Airlines In The Philippines II

[Evodesire]

More confidence about those 4 A359s rejoining the PAL fleet.

[JNC03]

If LH is done with it and their orders will arrive on time it will be back

All airlines need planes 5J damp leased A320s from Bulgaria Air and lease addtl A320s from different lessors. Another one arrived in Manila earlier

[Arianespace]

Evodesire wrote

So all in all, are we looking at 4 Europe destinations including London? Or London plus 2 more from the SIA codeshare list?

Oops... I did not spill the bean. The French Ambassador did. The other destination is also there. Could this be flown on ex-Garuda plane over Russian airspace or another 77w go east coast? We know PAL could overfly. We don't have problems with Moscow. EU does. I kinda see a trend here. PAL is rebuilding again long haul. If they fly back LHR you know where they fly next.

French Ambassador to the Philippines Marie Fontanel said Wednesday a memorandum of understanding was signed between PAL and Paris-based airport operator Aéroports de Paris (ADP) in June to explore the possibility of a nonstop flight.

Before the pandemic, French visitors to the Philippines reached 88,577 and France was the country’s third largest market in Europe, next to the UK and Germany.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1214972

[JNC03]

European flights should be back and PAL should strengthen their long-haul flights because its their bread and butter after all.

Domestic and regional market have a lot of competition

[cosmicarcher]

Arianespace wrote

Speaking of slots and gates, did you know that Delta still has three slots in Manila? They are still paying for it so the possibility of SEA flight is not impossible. JAL also has idle slots it made use recently. So are SIA and CPA. DAL can actually make a midnight departure at MNL to ICN or North America. Instead it make use as parking for now. The problem with NAIA is gate assignment as the gate operates on use it or lose it basis. They only have one gate. That actually explains why they have the same time of departure to ICN. As to why they are keeping it for a long time, perhaps a strategic decision on their part. Some airlines do that for one reason or another. Gate is easier to acquire than slots.

This is 4 year old post--but I'm curious if Delta is still keeping their slot in MNL until today?

I just read that Delta is expected to announce orders for A350-1000 soon... potentially for their long haul trips to Asia.  They recently announced a new non-stop flight from Seattle to Taipei.  They might beat PAL to the lucrative route between MNL and SEA should Delta open that route as well ahead of them.

[Evodesire]

Only question now is if they have enough planes and when will they plan to add more planes? Even Thai which just exited bankruptcy is about to put in a massive order of planes. I feel PAL needs more than 100 planes to be competitive in the next 3 to 5 years. Mix of both WB and NB planes. And they somehow have to expand their horizons instead of always focusing on only balikbayans and OFWs. We also have the under utilized MCIA2 and CRK2 terminals.

Still awaiting their 2nd order of widebody planes.

[Arianespace]

cosmicarcher wrote

This is 4 year old post--but I'm curious if Delta is still keeping their slot in MNL until today?

DAL still has slots in MNL. They are keeping them. The last time they were let by Europe-based carrier. But the flight is gone now.

In a similar fashion that PAL still keeps the 2 slots at LHR. They are just let to BAW.

[JNC03]

Philippine Airlines announced it may add another direct flight from Manila to a new US destination by the third quarter next year.
 
At the Christmas tree lighting ceremony at NAIA 1, PAL President and COO Stanley Ng said he can’t divulge yet the exact city in the United States, but gave a clue that it would be in the West Coast.

He added that they are still studying various options and it would also depend on the leased plane they will be getting next year.


https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/12/12/23/pal-eyes-new-us-destination


The leased planes are the ex Garuda 77Ws

[Arianespace]

JNC03 wrote

PAL President and COO Stanley Ng said he can’t divulge yet the exact city in the United States, but gave a clue that it would be in the West Coast.

He added that they are still studying various options and it would also depend on the leased plane they will be getting next year.

xzibit31 wrote

So Seattle it is... 😁😁😁

As if we don't know that, don't we?

[Evodesire]

Is this the exchange deal we get from allowing UA to do a SFO - MNL direct flight?

[JNC03]

Stanley Ng said that the airline has lined up a few international direct flights from major airports in the Philippines, but the plans have been put aside due to aviation industry concerns on the supply chain.

“We don’t have the aircraft at the moment because of the supply chain issue that we are encountering worldwide,” Ng explained.

As soon as the problem is resolved, Ng said PAL can pursue its grand plans of opening more direct flights for Europe, and Russia, and even make Cebu an international hub bringing passengers from China, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia for transfer to other major destinations like United States, or Europe via Cebu.

Ng mentioned the possibility of launching direct flights from Cebu to India, given the growing number of Indian population in Cebu and improving interest of Indian travelers to explore the Philippines, including Cebu.

https://www.philstar.com/the-freeman/cebu-business/2023/12/12/2318290/pal-revenge-travel-continue


Making Cebu as a hub with intl flights to US?
A330 replacement will be crucial for this plan


Russia flights the seasonal kalibo/cebu to vladivostok I think

[Arianespace]

NOt exactly an exchange deal. But kinda. The almost complete story is here.

What the story does not tell you is what prompted UA to fly direct SFO flight and have the slot it wanted, and not insist on its morning GUM flight. DOT told them so. Filipinos really wanted direct flight according to US embassy cablegram which UA initially refused to give them. You think UA flying direct benefits PAL? Highly doubt it. It was never in UAL route planning agenda. I assumes PAL knows what UAL heart was and what it has to hurdle to have the slot it wanted. Until it backfired by their own incompetency and inadequacy. PH government then reallocated terminal assignments of airlines which led it to accommodate UA. It also talked to another airlines to agree to adjust timeslot to fit time wanted by UA. Win win solution. UA now claims to have been applying for SFO-MNL route for a long time. That is a lie. Why? What was filed at the CAB office before was via GUM. Clearly, both airlines slugged out the route since 2019 according to this Flightglobal article. It was never about SFO. But its all water under the bridge now.

[JNC03]

Cebu Pacific will "make the best financial decision" amid their talks with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) like Airbus and Boeing, with finalized processes expected by the first quarter of 2024.

"If anything, I think what we’ve done consistently is we’ve really tried to stick with the low-cost business model. So regardless if its Airbus or Boeing, we wanna make sure it has the lowest cost receipt, lower cost in scale, to get the most efficient engines," Lao said.

Lao also mentioned exploring potential ways to "get our fleet from China, from the Airbus assembly line," as some pop-ups can perhaps become available.

Since the airline has opted to pause planned expansions in the long-haul market, Lao said it will upgrade services to A330 in domestic destinations like Cebu, Davao, General Santos, and short-haul international destinations like Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Incheon instead.

https://mb.com.ph/2023/12/10/cebu-pacific-affirms-2024-growth-amid-fleet-constraints

[frequentflier]

MANILA — Philippine Airlines has partnered with American Airlines for seamless travel to several US destinations, the flag carrier said on Wednesday.

PAL said its codeshare partnership with American Airlines introduces the first marketed flights by a Philippine carrier to US destinations and allows AA’s customers to travel to Manila and Cebu.
 
PAL said it has placed its “PR” code on American’s flights between Los Angeles and seven US cities: Atlanta, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, Orlando and Washington, D.C.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/12/13/23/pal-partners-with-american-airlines-for-codesharing

[chowpau]

JNC03 wrote

Cebu Pacific will "make the best financial decision" amid their talks with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) like Airbus and Boeing, with finalized processes expected by the first quarter of 2024.

"If anything, I think what we’ve done consistently is we’ve really tried to stick with the low-cost business model. So regardless if its Airbus or Boeing, we wanna make sure it has the lowest cost receipt, lower cost in scale, to get the most efficient engines," Lao said.

Lao also mentioned exploring potential ways to "get our fleet from China, from the Airbus assembly line," as some pop-ups can perhaps become available.

Since the airline has opted to pause planned expansions in the long-haul market, Lao said it will upgrade services to A330 in domestic destinations like Cebu, Davao, General Santos, and short-haul international destinations like Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Incheon instead.

https://mb.com.ph/2023/12/10/cebu-pacific-affirms-2024-growth-amid-fleet-constraints

That is why the A330 CEOs are coming back to Cebu Pacific? Heard 1 or 2 more will be back..due to the grounding of the PW NEO planes

[JNC03]

They will get more planes to replace the grounded ones. Including upgrading aircrafts to A330 and carry more passengers in one flight

[Arianespace]

Actually, its one of the reason for both airlines. Still, both of them are affected. Although CEB is the most affected.

[Evodesire]

You all saw the dual-branding strategy of Air India and Air India Express? While they share almost the same livery, you can still see a distinction between both. Same goes for Qantas and QantasLink, while they still do have Jetstar too. Do you think Philippine Airlines and PAL Express should do the same already? While single branding works better for western airlines, I think dual may work for Asian carriers. I am seeing more Asian legacy carriers have an LCC subsidiary. Now you have JAL and Zipair.

[chowpau]

Evodesire wrote

You all saw the dual-branding strategy of Air India and Air India Express? While they share almost the same livery, you can still see a distinction between both. Same goes for Qantas and QantasLink, while they still do have Jetstar too. Do you think Philippine Airlines and PAL Express should do the same already? While single branding works better for western airlines, I think dual may work for Asian carriers. I am seeing more Asian legacy carriers have an LCC subsidiary. Now you have JAL and Zipair.

Like Asiana Airlines and Air Seoul, Singapore Airlines and Scoot?

used to have Philippine Airlines and Air Philippines then Philippine Airlines and Airphil Express

[Evodesire]

Yes. Or they can also do Air India - Air India Express, and Qantas - Qantaslink. You still have the sunriser logo but at least the market knows that its the "more affordable" subsidiary of PAL.