Airlines in the Philippines

[Evodesire]

Travelbug_89 wrote

Thats odd so that means there's only 7 reconfigured frames right now.

Edit: i just took a look on airfleets.net, 8782 is reconfigured. Its recently flew Jeddah too. Makes me think that they may be thinking of reconfiguring all A333s?

Getting that same impression too.

[Travelbug_89]

and there goes RP-C3436 https://www.flightradar24.com/PAL5006/104b954d

[Arianespace]

Sad to see them go. At least in the desert you await your fate by suspended sentence. In Florida your fate is immediately sealed.

[Arianespace]

Fleet planners said they are "considering" the plane.

I already told this forum in the past that they are following the footstep of CX.

According to them, the A35k is fully capable plane for the west coast unlike the 77w that suffer some range issues. It is also a perfect bridge between the 77w and the 359.

We should see.

[Solblanc]

But there are already enough 77Ws for PAL’s longhaul needs, and most of them are practically brand-new. Even if some of the leases will expire soon, I can imagine that the lease rates for renewal will be quite competitive vs. acquiring new aircraft.

Well, we’ll see how it goes. Maybe the Airbus sales team has something up their sleeve.

[maortega15]

It'd be nice for them to order some 779s for LAX and SFO.

Curious to know, how are the loads for JFK? I know that they ordered some A359HGWs for JFK and YYZ, but maybe they can use bigger equipment down the road or much better to add a second frequency before upgauging?

[Arianespace]

Solblanc wrote

But there are already enough 77Ws for PAL’s longhaul needs, and most of them are practically brand-new. Even if some of the leases will expire soon, I can imagine that the lease rates for renewal will be quite competitive vs. acquiring new aircraft.

Well, we’ll see how it goes. Maybe the Airbus sales team has something up their sleeve.

For now yes, but when all the A340's are withdrawn you can see how inadequate their fleet are in about two-three years time. The A359 will become too small to service west coast. And delivery doesn't necessarily come immediately like the 77w. It will take Airbus about 3 years to do that assuming options are made this year. If they are waiting for the 777x the closest window PR can have is 2026 assuming the 777x start flying in 2019. Like what John Leahy said, its still a paper plane up to this time. In the airline business,  6 years of lost opportunity to address capacity shortfall is a very long time.

Also from what I understood from them, its not meant to replace the triple seven but complement it, particularly on the cargo side of things. The 777w can't carry the same payload as the A35K on its way back to MNL. Its a known fact.

So I surmise the A35k will do the belly transport for those oversize boxes that can't be carried by the triple seven due to range issues while they carry all the passengers it can get. All 370 of them.

Stranger still is the complimentary desire because the A35k is design to replace the 777w. Knowing however that CX does the same strategy to fleet planning makes me think it does make a lot of sense.

[Travelbug_89]

That I'm surprised to find out. I always thought the 77W was brought in because it was capable of doing TPAC from MNL nonstop year round both ways with a full belly and cabin.

The fact that the A35K and 77W complement each other is a surprise too because they're so similar. Is the A35K's belly just that much bigger or is there something else at play that lets it haul more than the 77W?

[maortega15]

The 77W is much heavier structurally and operates with higher fuel burn compared to the A350.

[Arianespace]

Travelbug_89 wrote

That I'm surprised to find out. I always thought the 77W was brought in because it was capable of doing TPAC from MNL nonstop year round both ways with a full belly and cabin.

The fact that the A35K and 77W complement each other is a surprise too because they're so similar. Is the A35K's belly just that much bigger or is there something else at play that lets it haul more than the 77W?

From Boeing design perspective, a fully loaded 77w is barely capable of reaching YVR. PR flight to LAX is payload restricted to around 50t from almost 70t max.

Its return flight is even lower between 40-45t depending on headwinds. It can carry more than 50t but it will have to stop at GUM.

Airbus A35k on the other hand doesn't have issues carrying 55t payload going back to MNL and that makes PAL very interested.

Assuming, PAL orders a 350 seater plane and free 40kg. baggage that easily translate to 49t of payload providing 6t more of cargo under its belly.

And as Maortega15 pointed out, its more to do with the weight and the engine. The A350k is way more lighter than the 77w.

[Travelbug_89]

So all that weight savings does help quite a bit!

The fact that tbe 77W is pretty restricted for LAX is news to me, always thought they were super capable and that the gap between iy and the A35K isn't that wide.

[Arianespace]

Make no mistake, 77w is LAX capable plane based on Boeing weight calculations, but not with how it is used by airlines. Meaning, it can carry all 370 passengers and their luggage to MNL at pre-determined weight and not according to the airlines weight.

Unfortunately, Boeing is not in the airline business. PAL does so it has to adopt to its passengers, while other airlines might have different strategy. For example, CX has less than 300 pax but more cargo, while PR got 370 with less cargo as illustrated in the above post. There is reason why there is a footnote on Boeing's brochure.

If you took one of these transpacific flight you would know why the moment you check-in. We Filipinos are famous for that. Beyond the free are cargo revenues.

Like what I said previously, it all depends on the airline and its target market.

[Arianespace]

In Manila tonight



We should see this bird in a few hours

[Evodesire]

Any final word if their salestalk with PAL was successful?

[Solblanc]

All the pics on PPSG are quite impressive.

Now, if PAL were to place an order for this bird, would they be making new orders, or would they be converting options?

A35K might be good for the west coast, but the A350-900 is the better plane for growth on the east coast and midwest. Not to mention that the 77W is quite big for LHR, so they may need more A359s once the A343s are gone.

We're also still waiting for PAL to launch a flight to the schengen area. Connecting in LHR is not all that great. A flight to CDG or AMS or FRA or MXP would allow a lot of pinoys to self-connect via an LCC or a train.

[Travelbug_89]

I'm wondering the same thing. A new order would be good but those 6 options could happen too since the 77Ws aren't all going to be retired at once. But holy cow, the possibility of PAL going all Airbus for mainline is getting high.

There's already clues coming out that hint that they're interested https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-pal-hldgs-airplane/philippine-airlines-looking-at-acquiring-a350-1000-aircraft-idUKKCN1FZ0KR

[maortega15]

Curious to know if they're looking at the 779.

A perfect plane for their "thick" routes to LAX and SFO.

[idp5601]

Any update about PAL's potential investor? Is it still the same airline as last year or will they have to start from scratch again?

[Evodesire]

JJB talks about A350-1000 orders. https://businessmirror.com.ph/naia-terminal-2-to-become-domestic-hub-of-pal-cebu-pacific/

Bautista endorsed the A350-1000 as a better version of the A350-900, six of which PAL expects to be delivered this year.

Asked if PAL would buy A350-1000, which can seat 370 passengers against the 295 that A350-900 can seat, he said it is possible.

“The six on order cannot be replaced because four are already in the production line, but the remaining two could be converted into the A350-1000. But we need six, so maybe additional order of six more A350-1000,” he added, saying that PAL has six more additional options that it can exercise in 2019.

He said Airbus imposed no deadline on when to deliver the six more options, but added, “probably for the 2020 delivery.”

[Nathaniel]

What about the mega mabuhay longe in t2, would it still be constructed?