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Philippine Airlines eyes Seattle route
October 26th 2018
Philippine Airlines (PAL) is considering a Manila-Seattle A350 service from 2019, airline president Jaime Bautista said at the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines Assembly of Presidents last week. Read More » The PAL chief previously said flights to Chicago and Dallas were on the airline’s radar, but the carrier has since replaced Dallas with Seattle because of better forecast profitability. PAL operates four A350-900s, with another two due at the airline in the first quarter of 2019.
Starting on Monday, PAL will fly a four times a week Manila-New York JFK A350 nonstop route, replacing a one-stop service via Vancouver. Bautista said the airline’s initial four XWBs were sufficient for the JFK service, its five times a week Manila-London Heathrow Airport route and selected frequencies to Los Angeles and San Francisco.
PAL has said it would be able to operate the New York flights with full loads because it had opted for the A350HGW (high-gross-weight) variant. The A350s have replaced PAL’s A340-300 quadjet fleet, although the airline keeps an A340 on standby in case of technical or operational disruptions.
The Philippine flag carrier has placed orders for 21 A321neo. Four have been delivered to the airline with two more expected in Manila towards year-end. PAL flies the aircraft on long-and-thin routes to Australia and will launch a neo service to Sapporo on December 7, followed by Delhi in 2019. The aircraft has 12 lie-flat business class and 156 economy class seats.
