Airlines in the Philippines

[Eurest]

Since 2014, the EY-PR codeshare has been quite extensive with EY codesharing not just on MNL-AUH but MNL to 28 domestic points in the Philippines

For MNL-CEB flights. I believe the ff: have EY equivalent flight numbers

PR2835 as EY3905
PR1841 as EY3935
PR1863 as EY3939
PR1867 as EY3940

The partnership extends to other items like PR's ex-LHR flights getting EY catering, in fact you might see something like "EY Chicken Sausage" marked on your Y class meal on PR 721

[Eurest]

This LJ incident is quite common on B737

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20160104001018

In fact, it's been occurring since the Classics, but the more common error is the outside handle not being stored properly.
I believe there was a Russian incident a couple of years back but they experienced a decompression alarm
That said, the air tight seal of the doors don't work until there's a 2PSI difference with cabin vs outside air pressure.

The worrying thing is the reports of nausea, which may indicate loss of pressurization but it seems no alarms were set off.

[tigz]

The gap is half inch the least as per the video but somethings amiss there with the sensor. Heck!, does that mean my low tech Corolla have better door sensors than this NG 737?; for sure there's a system fault there on that aircraft. What about the "crosschecks" cabin crew have done. Its fairly easy to sense that gap.

[Eurest]

The FA at L1 should have properly check and seated the door, the incident looks serious enough the Koreans are rechecking their budget airlines' OPs

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://avherald.com/h?article=491e7493

It seems PR's ex-IB A343s are getting bad dispatch reliability recently, a repeat of a similar incident in a span of 5 days is worrisome.

I wonder if SMC was still handling PR that instead of acquiring B787s or A359s, consider the cheaper B77L as Boeing already has 2 frames stored and they would definitely sell those for a song.
With 2017 delivery slots still a plenty, new builds could be had for cheap, much like the A333 refleeting prices SMC enjoyed in 2012
A 14 strong B777NG (8 B77W+ 6 B77L) long-haul fleet would be cheaper to maintain with spare part inventory simplified as opposed to having to store spares for a small sub-fleet of 6 B787s or A359s
The 2.5-3 ton @ cruise fuel burn difference won't be so bad considering everyone is projecting fuel price to remain low
Plus you have lower CapEx because the B777NG's will likely have higher discount rates than the B787 or A350



----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

airlineratings.com has released their latest safety survey and here are the results for ASEAN airlines

On the list from lowest to highest is Garuda Indonesia (three stars), Lao Airlines (four stars), Thai Airways International (four stars), Malaysia Airlines (five stars), Philippine Airlines (six stars), Myanmar Airways International (six stars), Royal Brunei (six stars), Vietnam Airlines (five stars) and Singapore Airlines (seven stars) .

So take that members of other forums that like to bash PR, as PR even scores higher than 2 ASEAN airlines with A380s

[romantic_guy08]

Eurest wrote

The FA at L1 should have properly check and seated the door, the incident looks serious enough the Koreans are rechecking their budget airlines' OPs

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://avherald.com/h?article=491e7493

It seems PR's ex-IB A343s are getting bad dispatch reliability recently, a repeat of a similar incident in a span of 5 days is worrisome.

I wonder if SMC was still handling PR that instead of acquiring B787s or A359s, consider the cheaper B77L as Boeing already has 2 frames stored and they would definitely sell those for a song.
With 2017 delivery slots still a plenty, new builds could be had for cheap, much like the A333 refleeting prices SMC enjoyed in 2012
A 14 strong B777NG (8 B77W+ 6 B77L) long-haul fleet would be cheaper to maintain with spare part inventory simplified as opposed to having to store spares for a small sub-fleet of 6 B787s or A359s
The 2.5-3 ton @ cruise fuel burn difference won't be so bad considering everyone is projecting fuel price to remain low
Plus you have lower CapEx because the B777NG's will likely have higher discount rates than the B787 or A350



----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

airlineratings.com has released their latest safety survey and here are the results for ASEAN airlines

On the list from lowest to highest is Garuda Indonesia (three stars), Lao Airlines (four stars), Thai Airways International (four stars), Malaysia Airlines (five stars), Philippine Airlines (six stars), Myanmar Airways International (six stars), Royal Brunei (six stars), Vietnam Airlines (five stars) and Singapore Airlines (seven stars) .

So take that members of other forums that like to bash PR, as PR even scores higher than 2 ASEAN airlines with A380s

Agree... New 777s should come by relatively cheaper now as Boeing is trying to bridge production between the current generation 777s and the 777Xs... and if I recall correctly, they are way short of their target back-log...

[Solblanc]

Happy New Year Folks!

So, there has been a question that has been bugging me for quite a while now. It's too late at this point, as there are newer options on the market, but has PAL ever considered the A330-200? When PAL ordered the 10+10 A333s during the SMC takeover, would it have worked to get some of them as 238t A332s? Technically, the 238t A332 should have enough range to do LHR and even YVR, though US west-coast may be beyond its capabilities. Nevertheless, it could've been an alternative to the A343 acquisition. Your thoughts?

[Eurest]

In 2012 when PR made the huge Airbus deal (8.2012), the 240T variant (7.2012) for both the A332 (7050nm) and A333 (5950nm; basically a 242T variant w/out the center tank enabled) was already offered by Airbus at that years Farnborough.

I believe the RFP for the A333 required the seating capacity of the A333 instead of the range of the A332 as they would ply the regional routes that the B744s and B77Ws were doing like HKG, SIN and Japan flights.
The add'l order for 10 A333s in October were for 240T variants, I have no info what of the thirteen A333 weight variants the first 10 were but any 235T and 240T A333 can be modified into a 242T with a avionics software upgrade, the center tank activation via the fmc and the paper rating from Airbus with a fee of course.

At that time the B77W were already doing YVR and presumably the EU routes as well so the A332 would have been redundant. Though the 240T would even be capable of SFO and even LAX on certain days or with a weight penalty.

As for the A343s, they were leased to replace the B744s and A343s for US as per CAT 2 restrictions.
The low lease rates of the A343 made them more attractive than leasing say ex-SQ B744s
The loss of capacity would be offset with more frequencies as PR already was flying 2x on LAX and SFO pre CAT2

[tigz]

What's with the A350 acquisistion now, PAL officials seems to be mum about, is it, or is it not?

[Eurest]

Airbus had 5 widebodies ordered from unidentified customers for December 2015.
They breakdown into 3 A380s, which is most likely the ANA order and 2 A359s, which is an odd number as it is quite small unless it is a top up order.

It could very well be PR only getting 2 if they are insisting on 2017 delivery dates, and the rest of the 6+6 order could very well be sourced from lessors so that PR can still have liquidity to finance the J class upgrade of the B77W and A333s

That said, Boeing also has an unidentified customer for 2x 787-9 listed on December 31st, the end of the year

[seven13]

News had been published about KU stopping PR from selling DXBKWI sector. What's the feud between the two since 1995? Since KU is successful in lobbying the Kuwaiti government, will it have an impact on PR's operations interms of the success of the tag-on route. Obviously there's a loss of revenue on that sector but will it significantly impact the overall profitablity of operating to KWI?

[romantic_guy08]

PAL set to sign $1-b deal for 6 long-range planes

Philippine Airlines is set to sign a $1-billion deal with an aircraft manufacturer for six long-range, twin-engine wide-body jets next month, a top executive said Thursday.

PAL president and chief operating officer Jaime Bautista told reporters the flag carrier expected to sign by February the purchase agreement with an aircraft manufacturer for the six “ultra long-range aircraft.”

“We’ll make the announcement when we sign the purchase agreement,” he said.  Bautista did not identify the aircraft manufacturer, but he earlier said the company was looking at either Airbus 350 or Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Bautista said the purchase contract would amount to about $1 billion, consisting of six long-range, twin-engine wide-body jets, aircraft parts and support equipment.  

“It’s an ultra long-range aircraft that can fly non-stop from Manila to New York. The airplane can be used to other destinations also,” Bautista said. 

[Tigz]

So PAL is set to sign the $1B 6 long range aircraft deal by next month yet they don't want to disclose the manufacturer. I just don't know what's the point for suspense!

[Eurest]

KU and PR had a joint service agreement on the MNL-BKK-KWI

In 1995, the confidential ASA between the 2 countries were amended to include

4. The two delegations agreed that the unilateral operation and the exercise of third and fourth freedom traffic rights shall not be subject to any royalty payment or commercial arrangements, as from the date of signing of this [CMU].

The aeronautical authorities of the two Contracting Parties will bless and encourage any cooperation between the two designated airlines.
 
The designated airlines shall enter into commercial arrangements for the unilateral exercise of fifth freedom traffic rights. Such arrangements will be subject to the approval of the aeronautical authorities of both contracting parties.

KU wanted to stop payment of the royalties as early as 4.12.1995, but PR argues that the agreement must continue for duration of Summer 1995 travel period, which in 1995, was 10.31

I believe a PH court awarded PR US$1,092,690.00, plus interest, attorneys fees, and cost of suit despite KU bringing it to the Supreme Court

Frankly, it's an underhanded move by KU in prodding their DGCA to deny DXB-KWI traffic rights.
They are in the process of removing a lot of 5th freedom flights after the JFK-LHR fiasco involving denial of Israeli passengers the right to fly
Aside from minimizing KWI-BKK-MNL, they are axing KWI-KUL-CGK

PR seems to be going forward with MNL-AUH-DOH with no traffic rights between AUH-DOH so there is precedent for PR to operate such a flight with no 5th freedom rights but it is not a very effective use of the 5th freedom rights from the UAE
MNL-DEL-KWI would be a more efficient routing and could even be feasible with an A321NEO

[seven13]

Agree! KU is also converting KWI-BKK-MNL to KWI-MNL. PR is also asking CAB to stop giving KU 5th traffic on BKK-MNL-BKK. I wonder how much revenue is PR missing without the DXBKWI traffic rights.

[airboy007]

it shouldn't be that significant as I do not think there's that much traffic between KWI-DXB. However, it would have been a good way to have added a bit more of revenue to the flight.

According to the crew who flew the first few times, load factor was rather low. A lot of it probably was because it just started and people didn't know about the new service just yet. Unfortunately, if KU would make it a direct flight, that would be bad news for PR.

Whatever happened to the DEL or some other point in India? That was planned to have been served from BKK right?

[seven13]

I think there is traffic between KWI and DXB but if it's a high yield or a low yield one, that is I do not have any idea. If that traffic is a high yield one, then PR is missing a lot here. MNLKWI shouldn't be too big since 5J opted to start it 2/3X a week, same goes for DOH. KWI, JED and DOH was supposed to start last Oct 2015 but was later moved to Dec and then Jan 1 and finally yesterday, however, I do not have any idea when did the reservations started. It could have already been late to catch up with the holiday rush that's why loads were pretty light on yesterday's flight. Marketing and Sales team should push for more publicity to grab KU's (and probably 5J) customers.

DEL (or are they now considering BOM), coming from JJB, once A321neoLR starts arriving, PR might resume operation.

[Eurest]

KWI-DXB is quite a busy route with 24 flights per day, with EK sending an A380 despite being less than 2 hours
FZ has a good hold on the low cost segment and EK has the high revs. KU would probably lose out to PR as anyone who values their money's worth will never fly KU

PR might want to consider other point in India than DEL like BLR, with the BPO ties and the 6th freedom potential to SFO

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UL is deferring its 8 A359 orders as it is financially strapped, potentially making its first one due in 06.2016, MSN 52, an NTU a/c, something a carrier like PR could take-up
UL has 4 slots in 2016 and 4 in 2017. It seems to be operating fine with its A333s

The first A359s for lessors in 2017 is MSN 103 for 03.2017, though I'm not 100% sure

[Evodesire]

Speaking of A350-900s, so PR is putting in an order for 6 units with 6 options right? Of the 6, how many will be leased and how many will be company owned?

About the new 777s, I believe one is due this year. Will it have the new BCL seats?

[seven13]

So KU is afraid of additional competition. Too bad on the side of PR.

[Eurest]

The delivery schedules for the 2 add'l B77W are 10.2015 and 12.2015 but they could spend add'l time at another site like VCV to install the WiFi meaning their entry into service could come weeks later than their delivery.

All indications are that they will be sporting a new Biz class config
If PR doesn't reset the sections of J and Y in the nnew birds, we could see just 36 J seats if PR goes for the Cirrus
CX has a 40 seat J config but their J encroaches all the way to the wing area where PR has Y class rows 31-35

There will be also other differences from PR's first 6 B77W
i) The physical tail skid has been removed replaced with an electronic one built into the fmc
ii) Using a lower density hydraulic fluid
iii) Less dense cabin insulation material
iv) New flight control software (includes anti tail skid as well as full elevator authority)
v) aerodynamic enhancements such as the slats getting improved, window curvature smoothed to reduce drag, optimized flap fairings
These have resulted in a 1200lb weight reduction. These last 2 could be even 3 tons lighter than the first 2 B77W

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As for the A343 replacements, the 1B$ quoted figure would indicate that the majority would be leased as JJB has mentioned a total care package included as part of the deal
Though no one pays full list price for an aircraft, especially repeat customers, a total care maintenance package does add quite a sum to the overall cost

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



GEe, there's a B787-9 scale model strategically placed behind JJB! Below it is a B77W
The plot thickens!

-2nd European destination from MNL in 2017
-New codeshare with an airline in a different part of the world, most probably a US carrier