PAL buys 9 new Airbus planes

MANILA  -Philippine Airlines (PAL) has finalized a deal with Airbus to acquire nine new long-range widebody aircraft as it ramps up flights to North America amid the resurgence of passenger movement.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Lucio Tan-led airline announced the closing of the purchase agreement for several A350-1000 units, which will be used for long haul services from Manila to the East Coast of the United States and Canada.

Each plane, which has separate cabins for business class, premium economy and economy class, can accommodate 380 passengers. It can fly for 18,000 kilometers nonstop.

“This order will see PAL operating one of the youngest and most modern widebody fleets in Asia. We selected the A350-1000 to give PAL the power to match capacity closely to predicted demand on both the very longest routes to the North American East Coast but also on our prime trunk routes to the West Coast and potentially to Europe as well,” PAL president and chief operating officer Stanley Ng said.

Ng said the aircraft would be using “significantly less fuel than older aircraft of a similar size, which also brings an important reduction in carbon emissions.”

“These state-of-the-art aircraft will enable us to give them the convenience of non-stop flights on long range routes in a comfortable passenger cabin where our cabin crew can do what they do best – extend gracious service and world-class Filipino hospitality,” said Lucio Tan III, president and chief operating officer of airline operator PAL Holdings.

PAL spokesperson Cielo Villaluna, in a message to reporters on Tuesday, said the airline currently has 69 aircraft in its fleet, down from 98 units prior to the pandemic.

The order of new aircraft, she said, would “address the current need for more planes and widen our flight route network.”

Villaluna told the Inquirer that the aircraft are expected to arrive in two years.

In the first quarter, PAL Holdings Inc. reported that its net income attributable to equity holders of the parent company grew by more than four times to P4.65 billion for the period from P1.08 billion a year ago.

PAL profit soared 330% on revenge travel in Q1

The bottom line was lifted by passenger revenues, which surged by 119 percent to P37.62 billion in the first quarter.

It serviced 3.4 million passengers in the first three months, showing 156.2-percent growth from the same period last year. INQ

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