Airlines in the Philippines

[Solblanc]

Turkish is known for its consistency across its wide network. In both economy and business, the catering is very generous and the quality is good. As for their business product, they're competitive on price. They may not have the hard product, but you can fly business on Turkish for the price of premium economy on other carriers, and enjoy a flat bed and a really good lounge.

[Travelbug_89]

Sweet! Thanks!

I do wonder though, that once the A350s come online they could potentially open more long haul ops in CEB. Provided they re-open CEB-LAX first and actually time the domestic flights properly with their international flights out of Cebu. Being Bisaya, I was a really big proponent for CEB-LAX, but the A343 is definitely old.

[Arianespace]

seven13 wrote

I've never flown PAL A340 until got the opportunity to do so before its gone for good. And from what I have seen that is not their current Y seats, thus explains LT newsletter of A340 refurbishments.

This is their new Y seats



And this is how the wireless IFE works.









And you'll never ran out of battery even if you travel for 48 hours



Not bad at all at the quarter of the price for the same services.

[Solblanc]

It's not bad, quite serviceable, and it's ingenious to use the upholstery to hold up the IFE, but at the same time, medium-haul flyers seem to be getting the better end of the stick:

https://runwaygirlnetwork.com/2017/07/12/lift-designs-thoughtful-elegant-fun-cabins-for-revitalised-philippine-airlines/

I know that Australia and Japan are some of the highest-yielding routes of PAL, and Honolulu is not far behind, however, the people flying to the mainland US and LHR will have to wait quite a long while before they get a consistent commensurate cabin in J as well as a proper premium economy option. This is why I think that it's odd that they'd take delivery of new 777s this December with the same cabin when they'd have to start retrofitting the T7 fleet in a year or two anyway. All of the design effort that they put into the A330s should also be shared with the T7 fleet.

[eejayg]

The configuration of the upcoming 77Ws will likely be for logistics reason. Having 2 oddballs would be a pain for equipment swaps but if they're refurbishing them in a year or 2 anyway then yeah, it makes sense to have them delivered with the new config. The 77Ws won't be an extensive refurb as the A330s anyway where it's a complete makeover. They'll likely just remove a section of Y for PY and replace the J cabin with new seats. The Y cabin on the new frames are already using similar seats and colours as the tri-class A330s and are equipped with Panasonic EX3.

[maortega15]

eejayg wrote

The configuration of the upcoming 77Ws will likely be for logistics reason. Having 2 oddballs would be a pain for equipment swaps but if they're refurbishing them in a year or 2 anyway then yeah, it makes sense to have them delivered with the new config. The 77Ws won't be an extensive refurb as the A330s anyway where it's a complete makeover. They'll likely just remove a section of Y for PY and replace the J cabin with new seats. The Y cabin on the new frames are already using similar seats and colours as the tri-class A330s and are equipped with Panasonic EX3.

The first batch of 77W's needs to be upgraded from nose to tail.

While the new business class seats on the A330 are perfect for medium haul routes, there has to be a better product for long haul routes. The Zodiac Cirrus like the one on CX comes to mind. Just my honest opinion.

They better get it right the first time when they choose a product for the A350 if they haven't done so already.

[eejayg]

Totally forgot about the older system and seats on the first 6 77Ws. The incoming A350s will likely reflect what we'll see if and when the 77Ws are refurbished. The 3 class A330s will be closer to what we'll see on the regional A321NEOs coming next year.

[Unbreakable]

Here's a thought though. My guess is that they purposely did not configure the incoming 77W's with similar cabins with the A330s is because of the ff:

- the oldest 777s 7777 and 7776 are leased and could be returned to lessor in a few years
- with PR's push to become 5 stars, you'll definitely need an F cabin. This could be in the works as they finalize the long haul cabins on the a350s

[maortega15]

Unbreakable wrote

Here's a thought though. My guess is that they purposely did not configure the incoming 77W's with similar cabins with the A330s is because of the ff:

- the oldest 777s 7777 and 7776 are leased and could be returned to lessor in a few years
- with PR's push to become 5 stars, you'll definitely need an F cabin. This could be in the works as they finalize the long haul cabins on the a350s

You don't need an F cabin to be rated 5 stars. EVA Air and Hainan have no F cabin, but are 5 star rated.

Now the oldest 777's being returned to the lesser is something I din't know about. Maybe @chowpau or @Arianespace have more info.

[Evodesire]

If they would return C7777 and C7776 to its lessor, I don't think it would be anytime soon until they retire all A340s and all A350s are delivered.

Or they would return it lets say another aircraft is for delivery like a 777X hopefully.

[Arianespace]

All the triple seven are long termed leases, which means the two old ones is going to expire sometime in 2019 which is about the same time all the 6 A350 are delivered. With that fleet the airline can already manage two less frames of the 77W. Five years service extension is not that quite clear yet as they planned to acquire the 77X. Note also the 6 options for the A359 which the airline is bend on taking, delivery possibly from 2020-22 after which the 77X is propose to be delivered sometime in 2023 onwards. With that in mind I guess it would be impractical to retrofit the product.  

[Dash Alvin]

Hi Ariane! When will be the target date for the night-rating of DPL? Flood lights are not yet installed until now.

[Arianespace]

Next Year. Its bid out already.

[meronbopis]

Does anyone on the forum have pics or narratives on the current PAL check-in/boarding experience in NAIA T1 (Middle East flights).  With some talk of PAL moving its international operations to T1, wondering if anyone has snapped or captured any of PAL's operations there.  Thanks!

[Dash Alvin]

Is ILS included in the bid?

[Arianespace]

They are already moving most of its middle east flights to T1 since July 1. From experience, its way better than T2.  

• PR 662 Manila – Jeddah (M-W-F)
• PR 668 Manila – Kuwait (T- TH-SAT-SUN)
• PR 656 Manila – Abu Dhabi (T- TH-SAT)
• PR 682 Manila – Dammam (M- T- TH-F-SAT)
• PR 684 Manila – Doha (M-W-F-SUN)
• PR 654 Manila – Riyadh (Daily)

Its old operation is however nice to look at


Here is the one I took

[cabinpressure]

Arianespace wrote

Its old operation is however nice to look at

What a nice picture. I see a 727 tail there!

[Arianespace]

PAL president Jaimie Bautista told CAPA that whether PAL is able to operate the flight daily year-round depends “on the requirement of the market”.

Interesting insight by CAPA on PAL's LHR route. According to JJB, 77W will stay in the market.

I however would believe otherwise, JJB statement notwithstanding. Airline planners are telling me that 77W deployment is only temporary as this route is destined to be operated by A350 in 2018 as the aircraft is too big for the market. It is true however that the first two A350 frames are destined for New York, and the third and fourth frames should be rotating to LHR on daily basis.

The reason apparently is quite simple, the UK market frowns upon infrequent services. As most of their passengers, particularly seating in the front, are UK-based, PAL is compelled to raise frequency to mend their flying behavior in their favor although  with bigger aircraft. The outcome to that decision is not quite good as they will surely have more empty seats at the back. They however have a decent load up front. That makes their choices more like a poison pill. Thus, the necessity of the smaller plane.

Lets see how it turns out next year!

[maortega15]

Arianespace wrote

PAL president Jaimie Bautista told CAPA that whether PAL is able to operate the flight daily year-round depends “on the requirement of the market”.

Interesting insight by CAPA on PAL's LHR route. According to JJB, 77W will stay in the market.

I however would believe otherwise, JJB statement notwithstanding. Airline planners are telling me that 77W deployment is only temporary as this route is destined to be operated by A350 in 2018 as the aircraft is too big for the market. It is true however that the first two A350 frames are destined for New York, and the third and fourth frames should be rotating to LHR on daily basis.

The reason apparently is quite simple, the UK market frowns upon infrequent services. As most of their passengers, particularly seating in the front, are UK-based, PAL is compelled to raise frequency to mend their flying behavior in their favor although  with bigger aircraft. The outcome to that decision is not quite good as they will surely have more empty seats at the back. They however have a decent load up front. That makes their choices more like a poison pill. Thus, the necessity of the smaller plane.

Lets see how it turns out next year!

How are the loads in both classes for LHR?

And with the A350, do you happen to know if seats have been chosen already? Hopefully, they'll choose aisle access for Business as well as a Premium Economy cabin too. IIRC, Premium Economy on the A330s are a test run to how well they sell.

Happen to know how Premium Economy is selling as well?

Thanks mate

[Solblanc]

The airfares for MNL-LHR for Christmas are ridiculously cheap at the moment. Try flying from other points in Europe, and it's pretty expensive, however, from LHR, all airlines have dropped their prices to reflect the relatively large increase in supply on the route.