Philippine Airlines Adds New 777s, Gears Up For More Long-Haul Flights

Philippine Airlines (PAL) recently took delivery of two new Boeing 777-300ERs in time for Christmas.  These now bring the number of 777s in PAL's fleet to ten.  Just a little over a year ago, the flag carrier only had six 777s.    

Image by: Angelo Agcamaran/PPSG

The ninth and tenth 777 flew from Boeing's Everett WA plant to Vancouver to immediately enter revenue service.  The ninth 777, RP-C7781, arrived in Vancouver on December 14 at 7:58 PM and was used for flight PR117 that departed for Manila less than five hours later.  Three days afterwards, PAL's tenth 777, RP-C7782, followed suit.

Aviation PLC is leasing one of the 777s to PAL.  The leasing company indicated that the 10th 777 is the first twin-aisle aircraft that it is leasing out.    

PAL President and Chief Operating Officer Jaime Bautista said that the additional aircraft will augment existing transpacific services, as well as enhance the quality of in-flight services PAL intends to deliver to a level that its competitors do.

Its new 777s also utilise touchscreen in-flight entertainment (IFE) systems in each seat branded as myPAL eSuite.    

MORE OPPORTUNITIES FOR EXPANSION
The additional 777s mean that the flag carrier is able to expand the number of long-haul flights it can mount.    They were in fact well-timed for the resumption of nonstop flights between Manila and Toronto on December 17.  PAL last operated nonstop flights from Manila to Toronto in 2012 but shortly afterwards relegated it to a one-stop service via Vancouver.  This time, the service is nonstop on both directions.  This now means passengers can save several hours on their journeys between the Philippine capital and Canada's largest city.

Even before the additional 777s became part of PAL's fleet, the flag carrier once again reinstated 777s on its Manila-London flights.  Previously, the flag carrier's sole European service was mostly operated using an Airbus A340-300.  This has also allowed the A340s to be reallocated for nonstop flights between Manila and Auckland which began on December 6.  Previously, flights to New Zealand's largest city utilised an A320 with a stopover in Cairns, Australia.  

PAL's 777s currently also serve flights from Manila to San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York (via Vancouver).  

However, the flag carrier is not yet done with its long-haul expansion plans.  In mid-2018, it will take delivery of six Airbus A350-900 aircraft with an option to purchase up to six more.  PAL previously stated that the A350s will be used on nonstop flights between Manila and New York, as well as upcoming flights to Europe.  The A350s are also said to be a replacement for the A340s that PAL acquired from Spanish carrier Iberian.  Like the 777s, the A350s use only two engines thus achieving fuel efficiency for long-haul operations.  
     

10 comments:

  1. Holy cow, this website is alive again? Welcome back! I hope there is an explanation soon.

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  3. With the acquisition of new A350-900 where in Europe - aside from LHR - will PAL fly to?

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