Airlines Philippine Airlines announces fleet renewal strategy

According to the article, published on Rappler, Philippine Airlines (PAL) will receive its first Airbus A350 in June. The jet with 295 seats in business, premium economy and economy class will be used for flights to US destinations. As new destinations, PAL plans to connect its hub in Manila with New York, Seattle, Chicago and an unnamed city in Western Europe.

Further A350 will be delivered in September, October and November and the last two A350-900 are scheduled for 2019. These aircraft will be used to replace the currently used six A340-300. All A340 should be retired until 2021. The aircraft renewal means an increase of seating capacity on the flights: Philippines Airlines’ A340 have 254 seats, 36 in business and 218 in economy.

The ordered A350 are part of a major fleet renewal which includes six Airbus A321Neo and five Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 aircraft.

PAL and its subsidiary PAL Express operate a fleet of over 90 aircraft on domestic and international flights.

More and more airlines are retiring the aging A340 due to their high fuel consumption and the high maintenance costs. New aircraft models like the Airbus A350 or Boeing’s B787 Dreamliner have lower operational costs.