News
Philippine Airlines files complaint against Kuwait Airways
January 22nd 2016
Philippine Airlines (PAL) has filed a petition with the Civil Aeronautics Board of the Philippines (CAB) seeking the revocation of fifth freedom rights awarded to Kuwait Airways between Bangkok and Manila after the Kuwaiti Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) failed to reciprocate in kind and denied PAL fifth freedom passage between Dubai and Kuwait. Read More »
PAL started its new Manila-Dubai-Kuwait A330 route last Sunday, followed by a new service to Jeddah two days later. PAL also serves Riyadh, Dammam, Doha and Abu Dhabi, but does so in fierce competition with low-cost rival, Cebu Pacific Air, which also flies to Dubai, Kuwait, Doha and Riyadh. Alex Reyes, who heads Cebu Pacific’s long-haul division, said their passenger loads to the Middle East “remained healthy”. He said the LCC was interested in adding flights to the region to cater for growing travel demand from Filipinos based in the Middle East.
PAL this week said it was confident it would post a fourth-quarter 2015 profit, despite significant losses caused by the cancellation of more than 700 flights during an APEC conference in Manila last November. PAL operates an average of 260 flights a day. It posted a net profit of 6.55 billion pesos ($137 million) for the nine months ended September 30, up from $35 million in the year-ago period.
PAL president, Jaime Bautista, told The Standard he would place an order for six “ultra-long-range aircraft that can fly non-stop from Manila to New York by February”, a deal valued at more than $1 billion. It is understood PAL is considering B787s or an A350 variant.
Separately, the Philippines plans to install a US$1 million satellite-based system to track commercial flights over the disputed South China Sea after China landed its first test flights this month on a reef it built in the Spratly islands. The Mainland objects the plan.
