Budget airline Cebu Pacific flew some 10.5 million passengers to different destinations locally and internationally from January to December 2010, an increase of 19% over 8.76 million carried in 2009 as the airline continues to upgrade its fleet.

CEB’s growth was mainly driven by a 38% increase in international passengers, which numbered over 2.23 million in 2010.

The airline also flew 8.23 million domestic passengers, up by 15% from 7.14 million in 2009.

The average load factor for the year for both domestic and international routes was 85%, an increase of 8 percentage points compared to last year.

“We were able to grow our market to Hong Kong and Singapore by 29% and 45%, respectively, because of additional flight frequencies and our extensive network from Manila, Clark and Cebu,” CEB vice president for marketing and distribution Candice Iyog said.

“CEB also carried 65% more passengers to Kuala Lumpur in 2010,” Iyog said.

“CEB’s entry into Brunei and Beijing also further strengthened its route net- work by providing passengers more access to North and Southeast Asian countries,” Iyog added.

“We will continue to offer the lowest fares in every route we operate in, and offer better connectivity and flight schedules, as we take delivery of five more brand-new Airbus A320 aircraft in 2011. The airline’s 25th Airbus air- craft is set to arrive in the last week of January 2011,” Iyog said.

In the fourth quarter of 2010, CEB took delivery of three brand-new Airbus A320 aircraft from Toulouse, France.

This additional capacity boosted the number of CEB passengers in the said quarter to 2.7 million, a notable 19% increase compared to the same period in 2009. Average Q4 load factor is 87%, well above industry average.