Although the airline is thinking about growing its widebody fleet, it is currently facing challenges.
To improve its long-haul operations, Philippine Airlines is looking to grow its widebody fleet. The president and chief operational officer of the airline, Stanley Ng, stated in an interview with the neighborhood newspaper Inquirer that the flag carrier of the Philippines is having trouble locating available Airbus A350 or Boeing 777 planes.
limited expansion
With booming domestic demand, reopened China, and rising air travel demand, Philippine Airlines is confident that 2023 will be a successful year. The airline just reported successful quarterly results for the first time in a number of years.Philippine Airlines is keen for growth and expansion as it anticipates a profitable year. Ng claims that the airline, though, is experiencing development limitations as a result of supply-chain concerns and rivalry with other international carriers for planes and spare parts.
The airline’s full return to pre-COVID capacity depends on the availability of widebody aircraft given that it has just escaped from Chapter 11 proceedings. The airline’s capacity to introduce additional long-haul routes will be constrained without access to more widebody aircraft. Ng stated:
“If we could acquire more planes, we could grow right away, but we can’t. Although [new orders] are set to be finalized, delivery of the aircraft will take two years.According to data from ch-aviation.com, the Philippine flag carrier currently operates a fleet of 21 widebody aircraft, including 10 Airbus A330s, nine Boeing 777-300ERs, and two Airbus A350-900 aircraft. In light of the epidemic, it is important to remember that the airline was compelled to file for Chapter 11 and, as a result, had to limit its capacity, which included putting six of its Airbus A350-900 aircraft on the ground because of financial constraints. Ng asserts that recovering grounded aircraft has been difficult and that the earliest the airline will have access to new aircraft will be in 2025.
fleet restoration
The Philippine flag carrier has been talking about fortifying its fleet for some time. The airline stated in March 2023 that it intended to have all of its aircraft reactivated by the end of the year. The airline now has three Airbus A321s and one Airbus A320 in storage, according to ch-aviation.com.
At the airline’s 82nd anniversary celebration, Stanley Ng revealed that the company was also thinking about switching from its current flagship Airbus A350-900s to the larger A350-1000s. Ng did not specify the precise type of aircraft, though, in a recent interview with Inquirer, he stated ambitions to buy ten more planes over the following five years.
The arrival of new aircraft will increase its fleet size to about 80 planes after some of its older jets are retired.Additionally, the airline is open to the idea of accepting fresh investors. Ng added that requests from prospective investors in the Philippines, Hong Kong, China, and other countries had been received now that financial conditions were improved.
