Phillippine Airlines is officially looking at serving Istanbul in 2013 but also Kuwait and Phnom Penh.
MANILA- With the new shareholder of Philippine Airlines being Ramon S. Ang, the powerful chairman of San Miguel, a new sense of optimism is sweeping Philippine Airlines (PAL). The carrier is again on expansion course with a profit expected for the current fiscal year. Last August, it ordered 54 Airbus aircraft last August, worth US$ 7 billion, the largest order in the history of the carrier. The command includes 34 A321, 10 units of Airbus A321Neo, and another 10 units of Airbus A330-300.
Recently PAL also filed applications with the country’s civil aeronautics board to be allocated rights to serve Cambodia, Kuwait and Turkey. In its applications, PAL is proposing to start daily services on the Manila-Kuwait route from the 2013 summer schedule and thrice weekly services on the Manila-Istanbul route from 5 August 2013.
PAL is also seeking confirmation of its designation as the country’s official carrier of the Philippines, and for the reallocation of its rights to serve Phnom Penh in Cambodia. The Filipino national carrier wants to offer up to four weekly services on the Manila-Phnom Penh route, using Airbus A320s from 31 March 2013.
The carrier continues to look at way to increase its presence in North America where millions of Filipinos are living. The carrier recently dropped its unprofitable flight to Las Vegas to replace it with a new three-times weekly route to Toronto. The success of the new route to Canada is bearing fruits. PAL just announced a few days ago to upgrade its Manila-Toronto flight into a daily frequency.
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
