Airlines in the Philippines

[Dmitrivich]

New Flights 2019 Summer Schedule

* MANILA to DELHI
PR 726 Mo-We-Fr-Su

* MANILA to HANOI
PR 595 Mo-We-Fr-Su

* MANILA to PHNOM PENH
PR 521 Mo-Tu-Th-Fr-Sa

[Arianespace]

Just got word that PR just secured slots for SEA and ORD. That should be interesting!

[seven13]

Surprising they chose Phnom Penh over Siem Reap (maybe because 5J already flies there)
I hope they code share with VN on MNLHAN route

[B77Wflyer]

Aside from new destination PAL is also increasing frequency on some of its existing destination, effective by March 31, 2019.

MANILA to BANGKOK
frequency increased from 21 to 25 weekly, operated by the A321.
PR 740 MNL-BKK  Mo-We-Fr-Su
PR 741 BKK-MNL  Mo-We-Fr-Su

MANILA to DOHA
frequency increased from 4 to 5 times weekly, operated by A330-300
PR684 MNL-DOH  Mo-We-Th-Fr-Su.
PR685 DOH-MNL  Mo-We-Th-Fr-Su.

MANILA to KULA LUMPUR
frequency increased from 7 to 11 weekly, with new flight to be operated by the A321neo.
PR429 MNL-KUL  Th-Fr-Sa-Su
PR430 KUL-MNL  Mo-We-Fr-Su

MANILA to OSAKA-KANSAI
frequency increased from 7 to 11 weekly, with new flight to operated by the A321.
PR416 MNL-KIX   Mo-Tu-Th-Fr
PR415 KIX-MNL   Mo-Tu-Th-Fr

MANILA to OSAKA-KANSAI via TAIPEI
Frequency reduced from 7 to 3 weekly.
PR896 MNL-TPE-KIX  We-Sa-Su
PR897 KIX-TPE-MNL  We-Sa-Su

MANILA to SYDNEY
Frequency increased from 7 to 9 times weekly, to be operated by the A321neo.
PR213 MNL-SYD  Mo-We-Su
PR211 MNL-SYD  Mo-Tu-Th-Fr-Sa-Su

PR214 SYD-MNL  Mo-Tu-Th
PR212 SYD-MNL  Mo-Tu-We-Fr-Sa-Su

MANILA to BRISBANE
Frequency increased from 4 to 5 times weekly,  to be operated by the A321neo.
PR221 MNL-BNE  Mo-We-Th-Fr-Su
PR222 BNE-MNL  Tu-Th-Fr-Sa-Su

Note: Could be subject to possible last minute services changes.

[Dmitrivich]

Marami nag tatanong about sa ATR72 freight aircraft last week nakita q sa terminal 4 area in service na my nilagay cla na container  sa front area ng ATR.

[Arianespace]

PAL to launch flights to Israel in 1st quarter

Manuel Tamayo, undersecretary for aviation at the Department of Transportation, said they were finalizing certain details for PAL to carry out flights between Manila and Tel Aviv by the first quarter of 2019.

...

Tamayo added that the Philippines was currently working on securing a final agreement with Saudi Arabia to use the latter’s airspace. This, he said, would cut flights to Tel Aviv by more than an hour.

Read more: https://business.inquirer.net/262981/pal-to-launch-flights-to-israel-in-1st-quarter#ixzz5bRZVxIX1 

There you go.  While the headline is deceptive, it is actually the time where the overflight agreement with Saudi Arabia is to be signed allowing PAL to overfly its airspace. The overflight nod was already given last year together with India but the fine prints will still have to be signed this quarter.

Which begs the question. Is PAL going to fly this direct on A333 instead of BOM stop on A321N?

[Michel]

Philippines Airlines in discussion with saudi arabia to be allowed to cross the country to land in Israël

[Solblanc]

even with Air India flying TLV-DEL, It should be safer for PAL to start TLV flights via DEL. It gives them the opportunity to grow the two destinations first before decoupling them later once either route is more mature.

El-Al flies 3x weekly to BOM, and they would rightly get pissed if PAL will compete with them directly with newer aircraft that can fly over Saudi Arabia. The PAL flight will obviously be shorter, and will have a competitive product. If PAL chooses to fly via BOM instead of DEL, that means that they're launching two destinations in India at the same time, and that's potentially riskier.

Now, if PAL decides that it has an A330 to spare to send to TLV, even with Saudi overflight rights, they're gonna have to weight-restrict the aircraft. Unless they revive an A340 from storage. TLV is really thin and too high-risk to send an A350 to, which would make more money going to North America or even Europe.

Arianespace wrote

PAL to launch flights to Israel in 1st quarter

Manuel Tamayo, undersecretary for aviation at the Department of Transportation, said they were finalizing certain details for PAL to carry out flights between Manila and Tel Aviv by the first quarter of 2019.

...

Tamayo added that the Philippines was currently working on securing a final agreement with Saudi Arabia to use the latter’s airspace. This, he said, would cut flights to Tel Aviv by more than an hour.

Read more: https://business.inquirer.net/262981/pal-to-launch-flights-to-israel-in-1st-quarter#ixzz5bRZVxIX1 

There you go.  While the headline is deceptive, it is actually the time where the overflight agreement with Saudi Arabia is to be signed allowing PAL to overfly its airspace. The overflight nod was already given last year together with India but the fine prints will still have to be signed this quarter.

Which begs the question. Is PAL going to fly this direct on A333 instead of BOM stop on A321N?

[Arianespace]

Both of PAL A333, either the bi-class or tri-class, can definitely fly TLV without issue as it already flew JED and HNL at less than MTOW. It's A333 variant is certified to fly 5,700nm in full payload that it can even fly farther to FCO with 300 passengers without issue.



Going back to topic, PAL CANNOT FLY DEL-TLV. It can only do BOM-TLV as per ASA. Thus, the question raised in the previous post.

I also subscribe to the idea that stopping in BOM and taking passengers to TLV is better as it makes more sense considering its a thin route with average of 150 passengers per day (tourist traffic figures). I don't know if its coincidental but the BOM frequency is also the same frequency applied for TLV. So A321N service would be more appropriate for this sector all year round.

Unfortunately, that is not how it works there. Filipinos comes in droves from November to April that even A330 service won't be enough, while the rest of the year is just trickle. Truly seasonal traffic. Its the same story for Jeddah which is full from August to October and trickle for the rest of the year other than Christmas holidays. JED finally got the axe for being unsustainable. On the other hand, Jewish inflows to the Philippines are also mostly on the winter season.

I would like to think the change of heart to try to fly TLV direct came from the transport experience of LT and his family to the holy land, which is very difficult considering the transit hassle. You would understand that when you grow old. Anyway, statistics showed that visitors there are mostly middle aged groups majority of whom are pilgrims who are also on their senior years with some mobility problems. If it can be done then traffic can easily double considering that its visa free and also hassle free. And if we look closely at statistics, in 2017, the number of tourists visiting Israel from the Philippines rose by 61 percent and tourism in the other direction rose by 42 percent in 2016. That is a substantial rise, enough to feed a A330.

I did mentioned in the past that PAL has a Jewish lineage which Israel recognizes to this day. Its original owner happens to be a jew, Emil Bachrach.

[Solblanc]

Arianespace wrote

Both of PAL A333, either the bi-class or tri-class, can definitely fly TLV without issue as it already flew JED and HNL at less than MTOW. It's A333 variant is certified to fly 5,700nm in full payload that it can even fly farther to FCO with 300 passengers without issue.



Going back to topic, PAL CANNOT FLY DEL-TLV. It can only do BOM-TLV as per ASA. Thus, the question raised in the previous post.

I also subscribe to the idea that stopping in BOM and taking passengers to TLV is better as it makes more sense considering its a thin route with average of 150 passengers per day (tourist traffic figures). I don't know if its coincidental but the BOM frequency is also the same frequency applied for TLV. So A321N service would be more appropriate for this sector all year round.

Unfortunately, that is not how it works there. Filipinos comes in droves from November to April that even A330 service won't be enough, while the rest of the year is just trickle. Truly seasonal traffic. Its the same story for Jeddah which is full from August to October and trickle for the rest of the year other than Christmas holidays. JED finally got the axe for being unsustainable. On the other hand, Jewish inflows to the Philippines are also mostly on the winter season.

I would like to think the change of heart to try to fly TLV direct came from the transport experience of LT and his family to the holy land, which is very difficult considering the transit hassle. You would understand that when you grow old. Anyway, statistics showed that visitors there are mostly middle aged groups majority of whom are pilgrims who are also on their senior years with some mobility problems. If it can be done then traffic can easily double considering that its visa free and also hassle free. And if we look closely at statistics, in 2017, the number of tourists visiting Israel from the Philippines rose by 61 percent and tourism in the other direction rose by 42 percent in 2016. That is a substantial rise, enough to feed a A330.

I did mentioned in the past that PAL has a Jewish lineage which Israel recognizes to this day. Its original owner happens to be a jew, Emil Bachrach.

Airfares between BOM and TLV are indeed quite high. But if El Al went to court against Air india, they’re definitely not going to like PAL’s service. But as long as it remains on an A321neo, perhaps El Al will be more forgiving of the limited competition.

Year-round TLV via BOM would indeed be more feasible if that’s the case. And I’m sure the senior citizens won’t mind too much if they get to split a long flight by stretching their legs a little in Mumbai.

If they try a nonstop flight, it really will be difficult. The costs and the competition with CX and TK won’t help. Not to mention that SQ wants to get a piece of the action. Just because the traffic is growing doesn’t mean that it’ll necessarily go to PAL. It may be wiser to grow the route via BOM first the same way they grew AKL via CNS. And a year-round route works better for marketing purposes than a seasonal one.

[Arianespace]

Complaining about airfare,  TLV can go as high as US$1,800.00 at peak times from MNL to as low as $200.00 on lean months. It's like flying to London direct at a weeks notice. Truly disproportionate. Meanwhile, $250 is the average price for BKK from TLV at this time of the year all the way to easter.  HKG termination will give you $1000 at this time. Yet most Filipinos travel via Hong Kong and Turkey to TLV. Now, imagine $1000 MNL return at peak times. Its the same price range PAL charged for HNL. Would this price range not excite you? Surely droves will come at this price. This is one route where direct flight is cheaper, until after other airlines respond of course. Imagine how many more  Filipinos would take the flight at reasonable prices. No wonder JJB said this route has huge potential if played right.

[Unbreakable]

Given these expansions and PAL's goal to become 5* by 2020,

Any plans to refurbish the remaining a330s and even a321s? Those RSA-era aircraft aren't even deserving of 4*, much less 5*. Even the OG A320s have more legroom and better padding.

[Unbreakable]

Nice review of PAL's MNL-JFK A350 service by TPG

https://thepointsguy.com/reviews/philippine-airlines-a350-business-class/

[Arianespace]

Solblanc wrote

If they try a nonstop flight, it really will be difficult. The costs and the competition with CX and TK won’t help. Not to mention that SQ wants to get a piece of the action. Just because the traffic is growing doesn’t mean that it’ll necessarily go to PAL. It may be wiser to grow the route via BOM first the same way they grew AKL via CNS. And a year-round route works better for marketing purposes than a seasonal one.

2018 foreign tourist statistics just came out and PAL direction can be seen from this figures. This might give us some idea why A330 to TLV is doable and their route planning guru is right on the money.

israel 21t 15% ^           - Same traffic figures for New Zealand with almost same distance.
Fil out 30t

But here is the catch
Spain 42t 20%^            - This is not announced just yet but we do have 5th freedom from TLV to BCN. Could this be the ace?

Most interesting is this
new zealand 30t 14%^   - Almost the same TLV traffic is served by triclass A330 thrice a week
Filipinos out 20t    


Meanwhile,
india 120t   14%^           - That is 328 Indian passengers daily. BOM and DEL would definitely work

Also,
Canada 178t 12%^         - Probably explains Canadian and US expansion
USA     1.1m   8%

Others
China 1.2m 30%^           - Most PAL flights this year is going to China and you know now why

Aus 280t      6%^           - While not much still showed that it is growing

On the France logic
France 80t   14%^          - Not shabby but plenty of potential
Germany 90t 3%^
Italy 35t      14%^

On the Hong Kong comparison
Hongkong 120t 10%^
Fil out       850t  3%

Singapore 170t   3%^
Fil out      830t

Why these are important? Because they mostly occupy the front. With that, you can basically draw your own conclusion.

[seven13]

Given the statistics, could PAL fly MNL-BOM-TLV on a A21N 3-4X a week while MNL-TLV-BCN with the tri-class on the remaining days? If PAL is trying to catch the front cabin, going daily should be the way to go just like LHR. But I know it’s too much of a risk at this early stage.

[Solblanc]

Even CX and AI grew their TLV routes with less than daily service. And PR grew AKL with a one-stop service.

Let them start the route first while Saudi Arabia is still feeling generous. They can revoke those rights at any time. Look at what they did to Qatar.

[xzibit31]

Looks like PR is going to have a special Livery on the next A350 aircraft.  Airbus and PR have already announced it on their respective FB Pages....

Airbus/PR
https://www.facebook.com/airbus/photos/a.403690762980547/2539323062750629/?type=3&theater

[Arianespace]

Should be nice.

[xzibit31]

Hopefully it will be a full retro livery and not just the front portion.

[frequentflier]

Japan’s biggest airline buying stake in PAL

https://business.inquirer.net/264026/japans-biggest-airline-buying-stake-in-pal?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1548170068

Philippine Airlines (PAL) is ending a long-running search to secure a strategic foreign investor as the group behind All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan’s biggest airline, is finalizing its entry into the country’s flag carrier.