Airlines In The Philippines II

[XWB_flyer]

Not a bad choice I was predicting a model from another seat manufacturer gonna be intresting what seat will be featured on the A330-300 which I believe is the next to be refurbished after the A320.

Kind of ironic since the current seats on there two-class A320 are previous generation of Recaro seat the BL3510 with its lighter derivative now with CEB A320neo famy fleet.

https://www.recaro-as.com/en/aircraft-seats/economy-class/bl3530.html

I'm kind of excited what the cabin  will look liked? Will there be wireless IFE and USB charging ports same as those found on 5J A321ceo/A321neo and A320neo?

[Eurest]

I think the need for VLA (350+pax) for PR is due to a few reasons.

-Sangley is still years away, so PR is stuck with slot restrictions in MNL.
-Maximizing a slot with 400 seats, esp. with demand capable of filling the plane
-VLA have better direct operating costs for ULH during these days with expensive JetA, a 410 B748 pips a 395 pax B77W, and outperforms a 325 pax A359

For a B77W replacement, perhaps the Gen2 A350 program?
Started hiring for engineering work in 2018, for NEOs and a possible A350-8000. Since the A350 is strict 9 abreast, a longer variant/further stretch to go toe to toe with the 777 Max mulled in 2016. Firm configuration was supposed to be mid 2020s, not sure if pandemic delayed that.


Don't just consider PR, but a potential new player
The PH making noise in routes Asia 2022 is because its making noise in the industry.
4th fastest growing Economy in 2021 (You guys export Nuclear Reactor Components?)
The Public Services Act Amendment
The country hitting Middle Income status in a couple of years
The speed of which Starlink was certified
CoViD effects changing the landscape

US biz wants a new frontier in Asia
Carriers like SQ with no domestic market got hurt bad during CoViD, now looking at Int'l expansion (didn't they want 5th freedom to North America?)
Or CX perhaps moving because its a political punching bag as a sign of British Colonial Rule
NMIA getting a SPEZ for Airport City?
SMC has good relationship with Etihad Group
ULH accelerated by CoViD https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7438344/
Cheap & numerous longhaul widebody like the 30 A380 in places like Tarbes
Infrastructure supporting new Gateways like CRK, NMIA towards Metro Manila

With RP-C7775 recently completing post storage mechanical checks, PR now has 10 longhaulers active?

BTW whats the tail# of PR stored AC I saw at Alice Springs late last year?

[peterpiloto]

7777 is back from Amman and did PR102/103 two days ago. 7773’s last flight was on May 29 from YVR. The A333 stored in Alice Springs was 8785.

[XWB_flyer]

What will happend to 7773? Will PAL  actually be keeping all of its B77W? And will they ever refurbished the older frames (7772 to 7777)?

I personally think there in more need of a Re-investment then the two A350-900 due to limited airframes availability. And seat and IFE will becoming harder to maintain adding cost for them.

[Arianespace]

Inflight Dublin has been selected by Philippine Airlines to provide a trial of its wireless inflight entertainment (IFE) solution ‘Everhub’.

Beginning in April, Inflight Dublin will equip a range of aircraft within the Philippines flag carrier’s fleet with the Everhub™ solution. The fleet includes A330, A350 and 777 aircraft.

The package consists of hardware, software and content, Inflight Dublin said, as well as the company’s data analytics platform ‘IFD Insights’. The graphical user interface (GUI) is fully tailored to Philippine Airlines’ brand requirements and is available in ‘Tagalog’, a new language added by Inflight Dublin to make the experience even more accessible to passengers.

The content package includes Hollywood blockbusters, classic movies, TV shows and documentaries, as well as Philippine Airlines’ own promotional videos and a survey in the dedicated ‘Your Flight’ section.

“Our partnership with Everhub will enable us to expand our offerings and provide our passengers a wider array of inflight entertainment options as they fly with Philippine Airlines,” said Philippine Airlines’ vice president for marketing Ma. Sylvia Elvira C. Domingo. “We are delighted with the quick turnaround of the solution, particularly with the seamless integration of the local language and Philippine Airlines’ own content within the platform. Inflight Dublin has been effectively meeting our needs to ensure the synergy of our inflight entertainment system and the new solution.”

https://www.aviationbusinessnews.com/cabin/ife-connectivity/philippine-airlines-chooses-inflight-dublin-to-provide-wireless-ife-trial

This should perhaps answer for defective IFEs, brought by wear and tear, and possibly upgraded services for middle east. They had other provider before. Can't recall exactly what. Used on A340s. We used Ipad then circa 2014.

[XWB_flyer]

Arianespace wrote

Inflight Dublin has been selected by Philippine Airlines to provide a trial of its wireless inflight entertainment (IFE) solution ‘Everhub’.

Beginning in April, Inflight Dublin will equip a range of aircraft within the Philippines flag carrier’s fleet with the Everhub™ solution. The fleet includes A330, A350 and 777 aircraft.

The package consists of hardware, software and content, Inflight Dublin said, as well as the company’s data analytics platform ‘IFD Insights’. The graphical user interface (GUI) is fully tailored to Philippine Airlines’ brand requirements and is available in ‘Tagalog’, a new language added by Inflight Dublin to make the experience even more accessible to passengers.

The content package includes Hollywood blockbusters, classic movies, TV shows and documentaries, as well as Philippine Airlines’ own promotional videos and a survey in the dedicated ‘Your Flight’ section.

“Our partnership with Everhub will enable us to expand our offerings and provide our passengers a wider array of inflight entertainment options as they fly with Philippine Airlines,” said Philippine Airlines’ vice president for marketing Ma. Sylvia Elvira C. Domingo. “We are delighted with the quick turnaround of the solution, particularly with the seamless integration of the local language and Philippine Airlines’ own content within the platform. Inflight Dublin has been effectively meeting our needs to ensure the synergy of our inflight entertainment system and the new solution.”

https://www.aviationbusinessnews.com/cabin/ife-connectivity/philippine-airlines-chooses-inflight-dublin-to-provide-wireless-ife-trial

This should perhaps answer for defective IFEs, brought by wear and tear, and possibly upgraded services for middle east. They had other provider before. Can't recall exactly what. Used on A340s. We used Ipad then circa 2014.

The part the interest me is trial wording which makes me think they are going back to what they did backed in 2014 with the A321ceo and A330-300. But it could be just to replace the current system on the remaining Bi-class A330-300 while supplementing the In-seat IFE on the A350-900 and B777-300ER which could be a temporary "Stop-gap" before refurbishing them at a later date. Gonna be intresting what the result of those trials will be!

Some more news down below:
https://runwaygirlnetwork.com/2022/06/philippine-airlines-aeroplay-wireless-ife-trial/

[Arianespace]

I don't understand the logic of these wireless IFE's other than stop gap measure. They were discontinued because of power problems. I remember they gave me a power bank on the way to LAX for the extra juice.  With powered USB that charges by itself when you connect it at the backseat should solve the problem. That technology was not however available in 2014. It would be a shame if 5J has it and PR don't.

So with new seats and new wireless IFE system that thing could work wonders.

[XWB_flyer]

I think the problem back in 2014 was the lacked of in-seat power either USB and 110V AC on there A321-200 and A330-300 in mono-class configuration. I remeber the Bi-class A330's had charging ports in some of the eariler pictures. Now with new innovation such as Y seats with PED holders and more powerful Type C USB Ports could we see PAL repeat what they did in 2014? Or could it be part of a broader more comprehensive offering with In-seat IFE, Streaming and Wi-FI which could benefit the pax with more options then juat one offering. What I find baffling is why they only focus on there Wide-body aircraft and not there Narrow-body fleet which could benefit from Wireless IFEC on regional and domestic flying?

[Eurest]

peterpiloto wrote

7777 is back from Amman and did PR102/103 two days ago. 7773’s last flight was on May 29 from YVR. The A333 stored in Alice Springs was 8785.

Thanks for the info Peter!

XWB_flyer wrote

What will happend to 7773? Will PAL  actually be keeping all of its B77W? And will they ever refurbished the older frames (7772 to 7777)?

I personally think there in more need of a Re-investment then the two A350-900 due to limited airframes availability. And seat and IFE will becoming harder to maintain adding cost for them.

Is 7773 not in MNL? Might have been flown out to another MRO site and the lessors used a ferry service company and their callsign so it won't appear under a PR flight . Check the following days for an uncommon callsign flying out of MNL
If it still is in MNL, it might be waiting for a slot at an MRO facility since everyone's busy with P2F conversions and W integration
For storage, they are usually registered as such 20 days after their last flight (the ferry flight)

Inflight Dublin will handle those IFE boxes (usually gold, one with a hump) for content, so what you'll see will be new but the screens are source from companies like Thales, Panasonic, etc
If a seat IFE is often unresponsive and needs to be reset often, then its the IFE box or wiring thats often the case. So the new provider would help with this.
The need for those iPads on those ex-Iberia A343s (predecessor to the 348 seat A359 on routes like MAD-SCL) was that Airbus as the owners/lessors would be the ones paying and since LCCs are the primary customers of these buyback planes, they are configured as cost effective as possible.

Ethiopian use the same company I think, and they have plenty of content loaded

PR's BYOD was ahead of it's time in 2014. In the 2016 SITA survey, 46% of pax preferred their own devices, 10% switched and the rest used seatback. CoViD must have increased this further, as the 2020 report highligted pax preferring technology over people.
The future of check-ins are either self-check or the trad'l one but a TV showing your check-in agent working from home.
A future cost effective IFE might go back to screens+projectors (so tiny nowadays) and then BYOD casting

The 3month trial must be PR's skepticism of pax acceptance of BYOD IFE with their past experience


Also Z2 getting AirAsia group A333s or A339 for ops next year?

[AnonBoy]

RP-C7781 has officially been tagged as returned to lessor so officially, PR only has 9 B777s on its active fleet. With RP-C7774 the only one left as officially in storage.

With the couple of B777s on tech, the A330s had to be the last resort to keep serving PR112/113. All flights from LAX is flying back at full capacity the past month. I raised this when it initially happened on MNL-ICN-LAX-HNL-MNL but it was brushed off as routine, when the fact is, there is nothing routine about this flight. It was claimed that it has happened before, but thats incorrect. Definitely not for scheduled flights to LAX unless we are going to include the MD-11 days.

[Arianespace]

I was told the same thing. Until I realized it isn't. There was one flight last year. I recall. And another few years back. But that was one off. Now, its just a regular feature.

I was expecting them to reactivate the other triple seven in Clark. The board said no. That is perhaps the difference between Stanley and JJB. The latter just contend to the old man. Former contends to all the rest. GSM wanted to be his own man. He was shown the door. So Stanley pleases the Gods. Reason advanced by AVP is it will be lean season soon. By the time PR goes back to peak season, all operating planes will be ready. They are still managing it now, but at what cost to customer service? I already said its gone haywire when another triple seven tripped. A friend of mine isn't happy of what is happening. He just paid extra for missing connecting flight in LAX. And that is just one passenger. Consider the rest that is gonna be affected by these?

[Eurest]

7772 is flying
7773 is at CRK? (is this the one damaged, waiting for parts?)
7774 is at Victorville
7775 is flying
7776 is flying
7777 is flying
7778 is flying
7779 is flying
7781 is at Marana
7782 is flying
3501 is flying
3508 is flying

I've seen Airlines recall returned to lessor aircraft in a couple of weeks back in ops, why not re-lease 7781?
However it was returned back in May so PR would have an idea about Summer 22 demand by then.
So 81 might be needing a heavy check, as well as 74? As their post-storage maintenance would be quite long

For the A333s doing PR112/113, they seem to be the 309 pax ones?
80 is flying
81 hasn't since Jun03 (getting refurbed by Airbus into HD config?)
82 is flying
83 is flying

So one of the ICN-LAX runs was 11hrs+, the same for a JFK-HNL leg
Why not switch the A333s onto YYZ/JFK and do MNL-HNL-JFK/YYZ-HNL-MNL instead of MNL-JFK/YYZ-YVR-MNL with the B77W. Unless they really need the B77W's capacity? Seling 325Y in JFK/YYZ too?

So had the A359 refurbishment continued, the smallest widebody would have been the 2 A359
Doesn't that indicate PR really needs the Y capacity, if Airbus added all those 18 seats to Y, that would be 259Y for a 313pax A359
We're getting an idea why the A339 was never considered by PR, as even considering 287 pax is the most an A339 would carry to get max fuel load for 7200nm, which would still be weight restricted for 1-2% of the time like the B744 and the Y allotment would be lower than PR's req'ts
LAX-MNL ESAD would be 7335nmi for a 100% of the time no weight restrictions, w/c was no problem for the 7370nmi early B77W
It even makes more sense why the future fleet is still A350&B777-9, even 1000s and 9's as there's still a size diff.

Farnborough is a few weeks away.
Boeing seems to have B77Ws to offer (LH A380 reactivation counter)
PR also has options for 6 A350, meaning they have slots in the manufacturing line and would have agreed on pricing for a 900 but an upsize to a 1000 is viable. (more probable for a MoU)

[XWB_flyer]

With regards to cabin refit there has been no announcement or press release from seat manufacturer for the A330-300 and A350-900 after the recent concludedAIX held at Hamburg, Germany. With only Recaro with the selection of the BL3530 for the A320-200 and trial for streaming IFE on the A330, A350 and B777 by Aeroplay and Inflight Dublin being published so far probably only when the A320-200 are completed they will proceeded with there other types in the near future.

Speaking of new seat Recaro  unveiled an updated version of there widely popular CL3710 the CL3810 which is 0.4kg lighter then its predecessor and can carry the latest generation of In-seat IFE with options to customised the seat back such as PED holder or foldable tray table or single table.
https://runwaygirlnetwork.com/2022/06/recaro-0-4kg-pax-economy-cl3810/

Also I wonder how is RAVE doing on PAL  A321neo, A330-300 tri-class and A350-900 doing? Safran Passenger Innovation (SPI) Previously Zodiac Inflight Innovation release a new Software for the RAVE system which suspicious omit one of there customers oddly enough!

https://runwaygirlnetwork.com/2022/03/safran-passenger-innovations-spi-new-ife-software-platform/

[Arianespace]

Eurest wrote

Also Z2 getting AirAsia group A333s or A339 for ops next year?

This I missed. Probably, referring to this article

https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/116602-philippines-airasia-eyes-widebody-ops-in-1h23

Well, the story was they are supposed to get 2 pairs for Cebu, Davao, Korea and China services in 2020 from XAX. And then covid came. XAX went bankrupt. While Mikee Romero has plenty of cash to burn, I think he will pass this Capital A plan. Problem for him is his slot in MNL. while APG has A320 slots from domestic terminal, its A330 can only park at T3 international. Meaning, APG can fly Korea and China but cant fly CEB and DVO. APG has no domestic slots at T3. I would say its not gonna happen until he spends a parking apron besides PAL. Although a pair of A330 is already in CRK.

[JNC03]

Will AirAsia PH keep the flatbed seats or ditch them for all economy configuration?

[Eurest]

The group usually keeps a uniform configuration across all subsidiaries, so they'll have 12 angle flats as well.
Makes marketing easier, as well as moving the planes across the group.

CRK would be interesting, which ASA's have marked CRK as open-skies?

Z2 seems to have the largest LF across the group, might get more love from the parent group if it continues.

I was hoping they'd start Philippines Air Asia X, and get the ICAO designator as PAX the way Thai Air Asia X is TAX (Though THX for XJ would have been great as well)

[JNC03]

Recently AirAsia A330s transferred to SIA Engineering in Clark for their maintenance works because it is cheaper, but last weekend a AirAsia X with registry 9M-XXQ landed in Manila and parked at LTP.

[Eurest]

D7 wants 15 A330 back in service by next month, plus LTP is regarded as one of the preferred MROs in Asia, esp. for 330s & 380s. So they're probably just going for availability.

Z2 would probably get their first A330 from D7 around 5 mos before their first flight for crew familiarization, and doing some of the A320 routes a few days/weeks after then.
So start watching around August. The 2nd will probably fly in a few days before OPS start.

[XWB_flyer]

Looks like PAL former president JB  is being considered as a candidate for secretary of the DOTr?

https://www.bilyonaryo.com/2022/06/23/former-lucio-tan-protege-jimmy-bautista-emerges-as-contender-for-bongbongs-transportation-secretary/

[XWB_flyer]

From Facebook it seems Premium Economy is available once again for flights down under

https://www.facebook.com/117387315866/posts/pfbid0yvPc6spQT7XyeV6k55oPdCU3bmPgEhbwUAYd18TmqXHutcJn1DPaE81yzjCYR26vl/