The Philippines’ leading carrier Cebu Pacific just received its first A321ceo jet by Airbus, as a part of a seven aircraft order of the type. According to the airline, this aircraft, as well as subsequent ones delivered in the next few months, will be entered into commercial service immediately to address demand especially brought about the peak summer period.
Per the analysts at Routes Online, Cebu Pacific will commence its daily commercial A321 flights on April 1, 2018 with two flights each to Cebu and Iloilo, and one to General Santos.
THE AIRBUS 321CEO
Initially, Cebu Pacific placed orders for the A321neo (new engine option), which has far a longer range than its ceo (current engine option) counterpart. Unfortunately, delays with the Pratt & Whitney engines selected to power the neo aircraft had forced the airline to come up with a contingency plan to address its fleeting demand—i.e. go for an order of seven A321ceo aircraft in the interim.
The A321ceo has roughly the same flight range as its current fleet of Airbus A320-200. The main advantage of of the A321ceo over the A320, however, is an increased overall length (44.51 m versus 37.57 m)—thus allowing for 50 more seats (230 seats versus 180 seats) in an all-economy configuration.
Schedules reveal that the airline will gradually deploy the A321ceo in high-frequency routes, such as Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro, Puerto Princesa, Davao, and Hong Kong, as well as regional routes previously served by the smaller A320, such as Shanghai and Taipei.
NEW SEATS BY RECARO
New SL3510 seats by renowned manufacturer Recaro were selected for Cebu Pacific’s A321ceo. Weighing only at 9 kg, these are “currently one of the lightest economy class seats on the market, with approximately 40 percent less weight than conventional economy class seat models.” Aside from Cebu Pacific, airlines like Easyjet, Air France, and TAP Portugal use these seats on some or most of their jets.
Instead of conventional foam, a combination of foam and netting material that conforms to the passenger’s spine are placed on the backrest—hence,the seats. In addition, the seats have a fixed recline of 15 degrees, which I believe not only increases passenger comfort but also decreases the likelihood of arguments and irritation among passengers.
But the feature to get most excited about with these seats is the USB port for charging of mobile devices. Not many low cost carriers offer this feature, especially not its competitors in the region like Lion Air nor AirAsia.
I have personally taken these seats on TAP Portugal on three-hour flights from Frankfurt to Lisbon and back, and they were comfortable. I did notice how thinner they were compared to the usual economy seat, so the legroom (or seat pitch in industry parlance) seemed roomier. In all, I wouldn’t hesitate taking them for domestic and regional flights.
UPDATE (March 27. 2018): Our friends at Cebu Pacific have sent over some photos of the interior of their first A321ceo jet, making me even more excited to take it for a ride.
Here’s the cabin fitted with Recaro SL3510 seats, which sport the airlines’ signature blue and green seat cover. It’s pretty obvious how the seats differ from the ones in Cebu Pacific’s other aircraft.
The most anticipated feature of these seats is the under-the-seat USB port for charging of devices. This is complemented by a tray table that could fit a tablet holder pretty well.
Charging through the USB port is not permitted during takeoff and landing. The seat’s LED indicator visible from the aisle tells which ports are in operation.
Photos above are courtesy of Cebu Pacific and Recaro.
