Airlines In The Philippines III

[Gustavo J Oppenheimer]

I think PAL should start thinking about returning to Europe now that  the Ukraine-Russia War is about to end soon

[Solblanc]

Arianespace wrote

Well, Mon Ortiz has a good idea on what their future fleet would be. He seems to have the same idea as mine. And perhaps PAL too!

The last time Boeing won an order at PAL was for the 77W more than 20 years ago, and even that was because of the 744 deposits.

Every other purchase went to Airbus. Even if the 787-9/10 combo is a perfect fit, I'm sure Airbus is not going to make it easy for Boeing. They'll make an offer that will be very, very difficult for PAL to refuse.

Anyway, let's see what 2026 will bring. More importantly, let's also see how the reaction to the 10-abreast A35K is going to be. If passengers accept it, PAL might become the trendsetter.

[Arianespace]

By December this year PAL would have paid the price tags equivalent for 2 35Ks, meaning they could have bought them without the benefit of leases. Those amount goes to pre-delivery deposits of the nine frames. In comparison, it took the airline 5 years to buy 2 frames of Boeing 77w's planes. That goes to show how deep their pockets are right now.

[JNC03]

A Airbus A320 software update fiasco rattled Airlines earlier today requiring them to ground their fleet of A320s

[JNC03]

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) has accepted delivery of the first of five newly purchased Airbus A320 aircraft, boosting its fleet for domestic route network.

PAL will add another A320 before the end of 2025, with three more joining the fleet in 2026.

“By expanding our A320 fleet, we are providing travelers with more reliable, convenient and comfortable options,” said Rabbi Vincent Ang, President of PAL Express.

[Arianespace]

JNC03 wrote

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) has accepted delivery of the first of five newly purchased Airbus A320 aircraft, boosting its fleet for domestic route network.

PAL will add another A320 before the end of 2025, with three more joining the fleet in 2026.

“By expanding our A320 fleet, we are providing travelers with more reliable, convenient and comfortable options,” said Rabbi Vincent Ang, President of PAL Express.

No. They are not bought. They are let. The soon to be retired aircraft are company owned and there are nine of them. The rest of GAP fleet are operating leases.

Fun fact, GAP new aircraft is actually ordered by PAL for GAP flown in 2011 and subsequently sold to lessor under sale leaseback deals. Now its going back where it started.

So you see, PAL has habit of taking back its originally ordered planes. It has happened in the past, as it is happening now.

[kilohakdog]

Noticed that RP-C9932 is replaced by a stored indiGo plane on LTP. Has it been back to service?

[seven13]

PAL is set to start flying to ROR 2x a week from March 29

[Arianespace]

BOC Aviation has entered into a purchase and lease back deal with two Airbus A350-1000 bought by Philippine Airlines from Airbus which is set for delivery this month. The purchase amount would be used by the airline to fund the acquisition of another set of A35k scheduled to arrive next year.

[filipinoavgeek]

PR's first A35K has made its first flight! Credits to Eurospot for the excellent picture.

[Solblanc]

First flight is a bit late. With the holidays coming up, I guess delivery is going to be next year.

[Gustavo J Oppenheimer]

Palau is set, next is Maldives by 2026

[seven13]

Gustavo J Oppenheimer wrote

Palau is set, next is Maldives by 2026

Would have preferred to keep CTS year-round.
I wonder why MLE is considered. From which country is PR aiming to get transit pax from.

Btw, RP-C8780 has recently been reactivated, sometime 3rd to 4th week of November. Does PR have any maintenance provider in CRK? I believed it came from CRK after few months of inactivity. Like C8789.

[filipinoavgeek]

The Maldives is gaining popularity as a tourist destination here, especially among those who can afford it. A direct flight is also more convenient than having to transit via SIN or BKK. I don't know if the Maldives has a large OFW population or not, but if it does that could also be a factor.

As for CTS year-round, that might have been feasible if 5J didn't launch their own flights, but with 5J also being there, I'm not sure if there's room for two Philippine airlines outside of Winter. CTS is also doing well even outside of Winter according to 5J, so that might be a factor.

[seven13]

PR launched CTS in the winter of 2018, Dec 07, I think with a 3x flight a week that operated year long until covid happened in 2020. PR was operating CTS during the whole summer of 2019. Flights departed MNL at 0115H and arrives just befor 0800h while the return flight leaves CTS at 0945H.

I guess even before, there was really a market for CTS even during summer season. There should be enough room for 2 players on the CTS route especially PR is deploying the 156-seater A21N.

[Arianespace]

CTS Inbound Statistics  don't lie. And they are growing by leaps and bound in 2025. Surely, Tourism related. PR loses this one to CEB due fleet issues in the past. Marami na Pinoy can afford.

As to MLE, the 2025 inbound statistics from the Philippines isn't that much. But its filled with deep pockets, the likes that goes to Balesin. If PAL believes it can fill its J class by that type of passengers, then its good to go with Y just extra. And it seems they are heading in that direction, targeting A & B class Filipinos.

[filipinoavgeek]

I still find it surprising that 5J (and pre-COVID PR)'s MNL-CTS can be year-round but not AirAsia X's KUL-CTS. Only Thai AirAsia X's DMK-CTS is year-round. I imagine it's not just because of the tourist industry but also because of the Filipino community in Hokkaido? It's not huge compared to other parts of Japan, but it is sizable.

seven13 wrote

I guess even before, there was really a market for CTS even during summer season. There should be enough room for 2 players on the CTS route especially PR is deploying the 156-seater A21N.

I guess you could credit it to the success of Kita Kita. Before that movie, I don't think Hokkaido was on the radar of many Filipinos, but after that movie, Hokkaido became a trendy destination. It was to the point that even when it was not Winter, people still went there. I've personally been to Sapporo: my trip was in May so it was Spring not Winter, but the demand was enough that Filipinos would still want to go there even outside of peak season. This was also before there were direct flights so we had to transit in Tokyo: now it's a lot more accessible. Hotel 101 is also building a hotel in Niseko, so there are even business links now.

[Solblanc]

Malé is interesting as wealthy places like Hong Kong and Japan don’t have direct flights. The top end of the market goes to SQ.

PAL will be able to serve connecting passengers to those markets, especially the ones that want a flatbed seat but don’t want to pay SQ prices.

At the end of the day, though, I’m surprised that the Maldives takes priority over other cities with more traffic like DEL and BOM.

[Gustavo J Oppenheimer]

I think one of the reasons why DEL and BOM are not yet being con sidered is because of air quality. It would increase maintinance costs

[filipinoavgeek]

Gustavo J Oppenheimer wrote

I think one of the reasons why DEL and BOM are not yet being con sidered is because of air quality. It would increase maintinance costs

I can't remember if it was 5J or PR that said that they're interested in launching India flights, but poor air quality was a factor in them putting it off, since it would lead to engine maintenance issues.