MANILA - Cebu Pacific on Thursday said bookings are hitting pre-pandemic levels after most of the country has shifted to Alert Level 1 leading to a jump in revenue in the first quarter.

"As flight frequencies increase, bookings are already breaching pre-Covid levels for our domestic network," Cebu Pacific said in a disclosure to the stock exchange.

As of April 20, Cebu Pacific said its average bookings grew 29 percent compared to the same period in 2019.

In the first quarter, it flew 16,521 flights, up 128 percent compared to the previous year while the passenger count improved by 272 percent to 2.05 million, Cebu Pacific said.

Revenues for the period reached P6.71 billion or 148 percent higher than the first quarter of 2021.

However, 2022 started with a challenging January and February with the surge in cases due to the omicron variant.

For the period, it posted a net loss of P7.61 billion, which is 4 percent higher than the P7.3 billion in the first quarter last year.

The aviation sector is among the hardest-hit sectors by the COVID-19 pandemic as global airports closed while airlines grounded planes to stop the spread of the disease.

In 2021, the airline posted a net loss of P24.9 billion due to the pandemic's impact.

• Cebu Pacific seeks 'consistency' in domestic travel rules
• Cebu Pacific says return to pre-pandemic level seen in 2023-2024

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