Philippine Airlines Releases Cabin Photos of Upcoming Aircraft

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) has given the public a first glimpse of what the cabins on its upcoming planes will look like.

Philippine Airlines Airlines A350 Mockup
Image source: Airbus

Some of the photos were first posted on the Facebook page of Cielo Villaluna, PAL's Corporate Communications chief.  The photos are courtesy of Philippine Airlines.

Based on the photos and Villaluna's description, PAL's upcoming Airbus A321neo will feature 12 lie-flat business class seats with a width of up to 23 inches, legroom of up to 60 inches, and a full-flat recline that is 78 inches long.  The economy class cabin will have 156 seats with a pitch of up to 32 inches.

All seats will feature seat-back in-flight entertainment (IFE) unlike the current A321 aircraft.  WiFi will also be offered and will be free up to a certain time and data limit.  The photos also show that business class seats will have AC adapters to allow passengers seated there to charge their laptops.

According to Villaluna, the A321neos will be delivered to PAL in several weeks time.  They are of the long-range (LR) variant, which has a range of up to 4,000 nautical miles.

The new aircraft is expected to be deployed on some of PAL's existing Australian services (Manila-Sydney, Manila-Brisbane).  Although PAL currently uses an Airbus A330 on its flights to Sydney, the flag carrier says using smaller aircraft will enable it to increase the number of flights it currently operates there.  The use of A321neos for Australian services will eventually free up A330s for flights to Auckland, which currently use an A340.  PAL is also expected to use the A321neos on its new flights to Sapporo, New Delhi, Mumbai, the Maldives, and Port Moresby. 

Designs of PAL's Airbus A350 business and premium economy cabins have also been released.  According to Villaluna, the business class cabin is designed similarly to PAL's recently-reconfigured Airbus A330s, which feature seats that fully recline.  Unlike the A330s however, the A350s will have 30 business class seats. 

Like PAL's recently-configured A330s, PALs A350s feature a proper premium economy class product.  There will be 24 premium economy class seats that are 18 inches wide and a recline of up to 9 inches.  The seats are laid out on a 2-4-2 configuration (or eight seats per row), which is the industry standard for a premium economy cabin on an A350.  It comes complete with a headrest, footrest, additional pockets for personal item, bottle holder, and power ports.  At first glance, PAL's A350 premium economy seats are similar to what is seen on some long-haul Singapore Airlines aircraft, which is different from the A330s where the premium economy seats more closely resemble Cathay Pacific's.     

Meanwhile, the A350's economy class cabin will feature 241 seats laid out on a 3-3-3 configuration (nine seats per row).

All classes will come with personal IFE screens, wifi, and USB ports to charge mobile devices.  Passengers can also download the myPAL Player app to pair their devices with their seat back screens and select such content for viewing on the seat back screens.

According to Villaluna PAL's first A350 will be delivered sometime in July.  The aircraft type is expected to be deployed on the flag carrier's North American and European routes.


The release of these cabin photos that suggest improvements from previous cabins comes on the heels of PAL receiving the coveted four-star rating from Skytrax.  As a result, it is now in good company as many major European and Asian carriers also have a four-star rating.  The flag carrier mentioned that it is now aiming for a five-star rating.  By doing so, it would join carriers such as Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, Etihad, and Qatar Airways.

Sources: Philippine Airlines (via Cielo Villaluna's Facebook page), Blue Swan Daily, Flight Global, The Design Air