Cebu Pacific buys Ayala's AirSWIFT for P1.75 billion

Cebu Pacific is set to offer direct flights to El Nido, Palawan soon after its recent acquisition of Ayala’s boutique airline, AirSWIFT. 

The budget airline and Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) Capital Corp agreed on Monday, Oct. 7 that Cebu Pacific will acquire 100% ownership of AirSWIFT Transport Inc. for P1.75 billion, The Philippine STAR reported. 

The acquisition is expected to upgrade Cebu Pacific’s service, enabling it to add five turboprops to its current fleet of 15, further enhancing its capability to reach island destinations. 

This will also allow the airline to establish new routes to El Nido, Palawan—a recent addition to its existing destinations in Busuanga (Coron) and Puerto Princesa. The boutique airline also offers flights from El Nido to Boracay, Cebu, Coron, and Panglao, Bohol.

According to the STAR report, AirSWIFT will continue to operate as usual despite the acquisition, so passengers with existing bookings will be able to fly without any issues.

Prior to this, Cebu Pacific signed an agreement with Airbus last week for a purchase order worth $24 billion (over P1.3 trillion) for up to 152 jets—said to be the “largest aircraft acquisition in Philippine history.”

The budget airline expects to fly a record 24 million passengers this year.