Low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific experienced a sharp contraction in passenger traffic in April as government-sanctioned fuel surcharges drove ticket prices higher and cooled consumer demand for air travel.

The passenger volume carried by Cebu Pacific in April declined by eight percent to 2.27 million from 2.46 million in March. Year-on-year, the month’s performance registered a 0.7-percent dip from 2.29 million in April 2025.

The domestic segment suffered the most in April, declining by 9.8 percent to 1.67 million passengers from 1.85 million passengers in the prior month.

International passengers, who faced the higher end of the fuel surcharge, declined by 1.8 percent to 602,000 from 613,000 in the previous month.

Comparing figures from the same month last year, passenger volume was down by 2.3 percent for international flights and a 0.1-percent drop for domestic flights.

Cebu Pacific offered nearly 12 percent more seats during the month at 3.05 million, but it was only able to post a 74.4-percent seat load factor, or the percentage of seats occupied by passengers.

Xander Lao, president and chief commercial officer of Cebu Pacific, attributed the decline to fare adjustments brought about by the imposition of a higher fuel surcharge, as authorized by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB).

The fuel surcharge is a fee that airlines impose and collect—separate from the basic airfare—to recover costs from losses caused by spikes in fuel prices.

“While these were initially absorbed by the market, we subsequently saw signs of demand softening, reflected in slower booking momentum and weaker April load factors," said Lao.

For the first half of April, the CAB allowed airlines to collect a Level 8 fuel surcharge, up from the previous Level 4, adding as much as ₱787 for domestic flights and ₱6,208.98 for international flights.

The CAB then raised the surcharge to a staggering Level 19, just one notch below the maximum possible level, for the second half of the month.

At this level, passengers pay between ₱627 and ₱1,834 for domestic flights, depending on the distance. The surcharge ranges from ₱2,070.77 to ₱15,397.15 for international destinations.

The CAB has since downgraded the fuel surcharge to Level 15 for the second half of May.

Taking into consideration the first four months of the year, Cebu Pacific managed to post a 6.2-percent increase in passengers to 9.81 million from 9.24 million in the same period last year.

Domestic traffic through April rose by six percent to 7.26 million passengers, while international passenger volume surged at a faster rate of 6.7 percent to 2.55 million.

Cebu Pacific increased its seat capacity for the reference period by 10.5 percent to 12.06 million from the previous year’s 10.91 million seats. Seat load factor declined to 81.3 percent from 84.6 percent a year ago.

Lao said the airline is now recalibrating prices further, including the launch of targeted seat sales, to propel growth in the coming months as signs of a booking recovery emerged in late April and early May.

“Our approach remains iterative and data-driven, carefully balancing demand stimulation and affordability, while maintaining discipline on cost and capital,” he said.

Cebu Pacific is targeting a milestone of 30 million passengers this year, a growth of 11.6 percent from its current record high of 26.88 million set in 2025.

Cebu Pacific swung to a net loss of ₱399.81 million in the first quarter, reversing the ₱465.90 million net income recorded in the same period last year, driven by foreign exchange losses due to the depreciation of the Philippine peso.