AirSWIFT flies as Cebgo starting July 1

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June 16, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Boutique airline AirSWIFT will cease to operate as a separate entity starting July 1, as its flights will be rolled into the provincial operations of its new owner Cebu Pacific.

In an advisory, Cebu Pacific said AirSWIFT would start operating its flights as part of Cebgo by July 1 as part of the former’s P1.75-billion buyout of the latter.

“Cebu Pacific advises AirSWIFT customers that effective July 1, all AirSWIFT flights would be operated by Cebgo,” the airline said.

There will be no changes to AirSWIFT’s flight schedules and services during the integration with Cebgo. However, all AirSWIFT flights coded as T6 will be adjusted to Cebgo’s designator DG to formalize the integration of the two.

Cebu Pacific bought out AirSWIFT from the Ayala Group for P1.75 billion in 2024. The buyout brought Cebu Pacific to a new route in El Nido, Palawan, strengthening its position as the carrier with the widest domestic coverage.

Prior to acquiring AirSWIFT, the airline covers Palawan through Busuanga and Puerto Princesa, missing out on El Nido which is also a go-to destination by both Filipinos and foreigners.

Right now, AirSWIFT operates flights between Clark and El Nido eight times a day, and from El Nido, it reaches Boracay and Coron daily and Bohol five times weekly.

Cebu Pacific, for its part, is managing industry troubles brought about by elevated jet fuel costs, as it employs a more disciplined approach entering the lean season.

Cebu Pacific’s passenger traffic dipped by one percent to 2.4 million in May, from 2.44 million a year ago. Domestic passenger volume grew flat to 1.83 million, but international passenger count declined by five percent to 575,000.

Between January and May, Cebu Pacific’s passenger traffic rose by five percent at 12.21 million, although demand is proving to be tighter than the airline’s capacity. Load factor, or the number of bookings against available seats, slid to 80.7 percent, from 85 percent.

Cebu Pacific president and chief commercial officer Alexander Lao said the airline is decreasing flight capacity and tempering revenue expectations ahead of the third quarter.

“As we enter the seasonally softer third quarter, we are taking a disciplined approach to capacity and revenue management to match demand, support healthy load factors and maintain affordable fares while managing elevated operating costs, particularly fuel,” Lao said.