Cebu Air says it’s prepared for a slow travel recovery

Philippine budget carrier Cebu Air Inc., that’s operating at a quarter of its capacity, is prepared for a slow and longer recovery in travel demand, Vice President Alex Reyes said.

International demand may take longer to return, while domestic travel could come sooner, he said in an interview with Bloomberg Television’s Haslinda Amin and Rishaad Salamat. Local bookings have spiked as the Southeast Asian nation eased travel restrictions, he said.

Cebu Air, a unit of JG Summit Holdings Inc., raised about 12.5 billion pesos ($257 million) from a stock rights offering and got a 16 billion-peso loan from a group of local banks. “That’s going to give us working capital to move forward no matter how long it takes to recover,” Reyes said.

Shares have fallen 10% this year and are down 0.9% to 45.20 pesos each at 10:48 a.m. in Manila.