Cebu Pacific began operating used and old Douglas DC-9s and Boeing 757s before becoming a major Airbus operator in 2005. There were two Airbus A320s and ten Airbus A319s involved. Cebu Pacific no longer operates the Airbus A319, which has only been in the fleet for at least ten years. Many of you have probably wondered what happened to Cebu Pacific’s A319s.
Cebu Pacific began accepting A319s in September 2005, with RP-C3189 being the first to arrive. In October 2005, RP-C3190 was released. Cebu Pacific received ten A319s in a year’s time, from September 2005 to September 2006.
Cebu Pacific’s A319s were outfitted with 156 all-economy seats that measured 29 inches in pitch and 17 inches in width. These planes were used for both domestic and international destinations, and the seats were quite comfortable, with plenty of legroom and kneeroom for a 5’7″ guy like me. Cebu Pacific’s A319s were powered by a pair of CFMI CFM56 turbofan engines.
The A319s were retired from Cebu Pacific’s fleet beginning 2015 when the airline was taking delivery of newer A320s and were set to take delivery of more efficient A321neos and A320neos a few years later.
So where did the A319s now go?
The first plane to be retired was the RP-C3190, which was followed by the RP-C3189 in 2015. Cebu Pacific retired four more A319s in 2016, and two more in 2017. The last two, RP-C3195 and RP-C3197, were all retired in 2018, bringing an end to Cebu Pacific’s A319 fleet after a decade.
What became of these planes? Allegiant Air, based in the United States, now operates all ex-Cebu Pacific A319s. All ten of them, yes. It retains the same seat configuration as Cebu Pacific. As of this writing, the average age of these planes is 16.5 years, which is still young for an Airbus A319.
Currently, Cebu Pacific is switching to an all-Airbus NEO fleet which they hope to achieve in 2028. They currently operate A330-900neos, A321neos, and A320neos, on top of their old A330-300s and A320-200s.
The Airbus A319-100
The Airbus A319 is a narrow-body passenger airliner in the Airbus A320 family. The A319 is designed for short- to medium-distance commercial flights. The aircraft can carry 124 to 156 passengers and has a maximum range of 3,700 nautical miles (6,900 km; 4,300 mi).
The A319-100 was sold with two engine options, the CFM56 and IAE V2500 turbofan engines.
Except for a shorter fuselage, the A319 is nearly identical to the A320-200. The fuselage length of the A319-100 is 33.84 meters, while the A320-200 is 37.35 meters.
Have you been on board a Cebu Pacific A319 in the past?
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It may be interesting to mention those A319s were specifically equipped that they all have two over the wing emergency exits like the A320s, instead just one standard. I believe this version of aircraft is so unusual that only other airline had them was the Easy Jet., which also sold them to the Allegiant Air in the US.