The flag carrier of the Philippines, aptly named Philippine Airlines,
has an important role in connecting people to its country while also
providing important air services between the various islands of the Philippine Archipelago.
In today’s video, we examine its fleet of 75 aircraft, where they're flying,
and how this fleet is much smaller than it used to be.
A quick overview of the Philippine Airlines fleet shows us the following types and quantities:
11x De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400s 13x Airbus A320-200s
22x Airbus A321-200s 8x Airbus A321neos
9x Airbus A330-300s 2x Airbus A350-900s
11x Boeing 777-300ERs
These figures also include aircraft operating under the carrier's regional subsidiary,
Pal Express. This division is responsible for operating
some of the carrier's Airbus A320s and A321s, as well as all the DHC Dash 8s.
Additionally, anyone who is familiar with the historical operations of the airline
will see that the carrier's larger jets are absent. The
carrier once flew big jets like the Airbus A340-300 and Boeing 747-400.
Unfortunately, for big jet-lovers, the airline retired the former in 2018 and the latter in 2014.
The airline’s mainline fleet size, by number of aircraft, including those from Pal Express,
appeared to peak in 2014 with about 98 jets. The mainline fleet had 70 aircraft while PAL Express
had about 28. At this point in time, the airline had 21 A330s, four 747-400s, and nine A340-300s.
Coming back to present day, the 11 De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 turboprops are operated by PAL
Express and connect smaller airports with bigger destinations like Manila and Cebu.
With an average age of six years, these birds aren't too old. And if we dig deeper,
we can see that a single Dash 8-400 is severely impacting the fleet's average age,
as the aircraft registered RP-C3036 is about twenty-two and a half years old.
This aircraft is currently parked, while the other 10 jets are listed as operational. The
youngest of these turboprops are a little less than three years of age.
With the exception of RP-C3036, which has 76 seats,
all other Dash 8-400s are fitted with a single class layout of 86 economy seats.
For slightly higher-capacity operations and services that require more range than the
Dash 8s are capable of, Philippine Airlines relies on its A320 and A321 narrowbodies.
The A320 fleet is mainly operated by PAL Express,
which means these jets fly mainly domestic services within the Philippines. Meanwhile,
the longer fuselage and longer-range A321s operate a mix of domestic and international routes.
When it comes to international service, the A321s serve cities in the region such as:
Bangkok Guam
Kuala Lumpur
Phnom Penh Singapore
However, both the A321-200s and A321neos are also
tasked with some longer-range services, including flights to:
Brisbane Busan
Hong Kong Nagoya
Osaka Port Moresby
Seoul Tokyo (both Haneda and Narita airports)
When it comes to age, the A320-200s are the oldest, with an average of 13 years.
The A321-200s are a bit younger, with an average of about eight years. Meanwhile,
the next-generation A321neos average just under four years of age.
Naturally, Philippine Airlines' collection of widebody aircraft serves the airline's
longest routes. According to current FlightRadar24.com data,
the carrier's destinations in the Middle East (Dammam, Doha, Dubai, and Riyadh) are served
by some of its nine Airbus A330-300s. This fleet has an average age of just over eight and a half
years and is configured with three classes - business, premium economy, and economy.
The Airbus A330 is also deployed on a series of rather interesting transpacific services.
The first is the airline's Manila to Los Angeles service via Honolulu,
which currently has flight numbers PR100/101 and PR113. The second
is a Manila to Los Angeles service via Seoul, which operates as PR112.
Digging a little deeper, it looks like PR112/113 sees an A330 fly from Manila to Seoul, then from
Seoul to Los Angeles, then from Los Angeles to Manila via Honolulu. It's quite an interesting
mix of stopovers, with Los Angeles to Seoul being offered as its own bookable fifth-freedom service.
Next up are the Airbus A350s.
Configured with 30 seats in business, 24 in premium economy, and 241 seats in economy,
the A350-900s flying for Philippine Airlines are noticeably more premium-heavy than the A330s.
This makes sense, considering the fact that the
type is the carrier's newest and most modern widebody aircraft.
While the airline now has just two A350s, this wasn't always the case.
Indeed, anyone who has followed the Philippine Airlines fleet over the years will notice that the
carrier once had six Airbus A350-900s. Considering the fact that this is a new and efficient type,
a reduction in this particular fleet is more on the rare side - with LATAM and
South African Airways being two other examples of carriers that have given up their A350s.
In the case of Philippine Airlines, the reduction of the A350 fleet by four jets
was carried out due to the airline making its way through the bankruptcy process.
This was done in the hopes of simplifying its operations and lowering expenditures.
The four jets went to German airline Lufthansa, with that airline now operating 21 A350-900s.
In 2021, we reported that the airline also had plans to reduce its Boeing 777 fleet alongside
the A350s. Interestingly, however, it appears that the airline held on to these widebodies,
with all 10 still listed as part of the carrier's fleet. At the same time,
three of the 10 777s are currently listed as parked.
Despite the smaller fleet, it looks like the decision to restructure and give up the A350s has
paid off. Indeed, the past August saw Philippine Airlines post what it called "record profits."
The airline declared $1.1 billion in revenues for the first six months of 2022,
which it says is a 258% improvement from the same period in 2021.
The airline’s final type is the Boeing 777-300ER.
Configured with just two classes, the Boeing 777-300ERs
flying for Philippine Airlines have 42 seats in business class and 328 in the economy cabin.
These high-capacity widebodies average just over eight and a half years and fly some of
the airline's longest routes along with the A350s. Destinations served include:
New York San Francisco
Toronto and Vancouver
Interestingly, in 2019, the airline was in discussions with Boeing to acquire two new Boeing
777X aircraft. The US planemaker was reported to be pushing the 777X as a replacement for two of
the carrier's older 777-300ER aircraft. Since we reported on that plan in 2019, nothing has really
developed further. The most likely reason for this lack of change are the events of 2020 and the
negative financial impact it had on the carrier. The airline's oldest 777s are about 13 years old.
While they are nowhere near factory fresh, the two jets at this age could probably
operate reliably for at least a few more years - especially if well-maintained.
This will work well for the carrier, as Boeing is still a few more years away from the 777X
entering commercial passenger service. But do you think Philippine Airlines should eventually
update its 777-300ER fleet to the 777-9? Or should it modernize with Airbus A350s instead?
With Philippine Airlines emerging from the bankruptcy process at the start of 2022 or
end of 2021, the airline should have had very favorable conditions for turning a
profit. While easing border restrictions and pent-up travel demand have helped greatly,
the airline would face a new headwind due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
On April 1st of this year, Philippine Airlines announced that it would be
taking the precautionary measure of avoiding Russian airspace due to concerns related to
the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. The result of this circumvention of airspace results in a
one-hour refueling stop and an overall longer routing and travel time over the Pacific. The
jets departing New York JFK and Toronto Pearson both stopover at Vancouver International Airport
to "top up" before the long flight across the Pacific. The carrier used to fly a fifth
freedom service between Vancouver and New York, but this was discontinued in 2018.
Flying east out of Manila, the carrier's PR126 and PR118 services continue to operate nonstop,
from Manila to New York JFK, and nonstop from Manila to Toronto respectively.
Due to prevailing winds, flights in this direction don't need to make a refueling stop in order to
avoid Russian airspace. Philippines media outlet Journal News notes that the airline quote "seeks
the understanding of passengers for this necessary step, as safety and operational integrity remain
the cornerstone of PAL operations." The airline says that it will revert
to nonstop JFK-MNL and Toronto-MNL services as soon as operational issues are resolved.
The airline's Manila to JFK service ranks as the 8th longest route in the world this October,
with a distance of 8,520 miles (13,712 km) and a block time of 16 hours and 15 minutes.
So, there’s your deep dive into the fleet of Philippine Airlines. The carrier's current list
of long-haul, transcontinental destinations is much smaller than other flag carriers,
but its very clear that the airline shines when it comes to domestic and
regional connectivity, using its fleets of Dash 8 turboprops and A320 family aircraft.
So have you flown with Philippine Airlines before? Share your experiences by leaving a comment.