HIGHER THAN HIGH ON THE A350

It doesn’t stop there. At last Tuesday’s reveal of PAL’s acquisition of new aircraft at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City, coinciding with the 83rd birthday of tycoon and PAL chairman and “kapitan” Lucio Tan, the guest of honor, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, commended the airlines’ recent accomplishments and existing initiatives, citing its efforts “that encourage more people to travel to the Philippines, thereby boosting our tourism industry.”

Both acquisitions, the A321 Neo and the A350-900, are from leading European aeronautics manufacturer Airbus, whose philosophy in aircraft manufacturing I have had the pleasure to know, on a trip organized by both PAL and Airbus, to its headquarters last week in Toulouse in the French southwest to pick up the first of the six A350s that PAL has bought from Airbus.

Our delegation, comprised of PAL officials led by their president and COO Dr. Jaime Bautista and PAL board director and LT Group Inc. COO Michael Tan, along with PAL senior vice president for airline operations Nicky Gozon, PAL senior vice president for corporate planning Angelito Alvarez, and the lifestyle and business editors of various newspapers in the Philippines, traveled to Toulouse, where we spent a few days getting to know key people in the Airbus organization, including the Airbus cabin designer Daniel Baron, who, working very closely with Philippine Airlines, customized the look of the aircraft to carry the spirit of the Filipino people. UNDER THE TOULOUSAIN SUN

The week we spent in Toulouse is unforgettable and it’s not only because Toulouse itself is a place of memorable discoveries, with its centuries-old brick buildings that, under the gentle Occitanie sun, gives off the roseate glow that has earned the city its nickname, “La Ville Rose” or “The Pink City,” often overlooked by the average traveler to France, who misses this Southwestern gem and its authentically French charms for cities like Lyon, Bordeaux, and Nice.

Right smack between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, Toulouse is bisected right in the center and at the heart of its everyday life by the stately Garonne River that flows down from the Pyreneés on its way to the Atlantic. The city is a place of romance—a slower, cheaper, friendlier, warmer, less crowded, and less commercialized Paris—and, as such, it is home to many Michelin-worthy restaurants, to some of which, such as Le Cantou, L’Amphitryon, and Du Coq á l’Âne, both PAL and Airbus took us to celebrate their muchtreasured partnership (since 1978) and this milestone.

There were side trips, too, such as a day trip to Lourdes, a small market town about two hours by bus from Toulouse, right in the foothills of the Pyreneés, where we meditated on the miracles of the Marian apparitions to a Lourdes local, Marie-Bernadette Subirous, whose visions have since made the town among the most visited religious sites in the world, with up to six million visitors a year. Like most of the pilgrims, our group collected bottles of holy water from a spring in the Grotto of Massabielle, where the Virgin Mary showed herself to Bernadette, then 14, in 1858.

On the eve of our departure, along with Rolls-Royce, developer of the proven Trent design turbofan jet engines that power the A350 family, Airbus threw a dinner tribute for PAL at Les Abattoirs, a cultural complex of museums, theater houses, and libraries in the other side of the Garonne, where Toulouse’s slaughterhouses used to be. It was a fantastic location, where the dinner was held, the Musée des Abattoirs, home to some 3,000 important pieces of modern art, including Pablo Picasso’s The Minotaur dressed as Harlequin. True to every note, even when she only had a few hours to practice, a Frenchwoman sang the Philippine National Anthem, and that, alone, was a foretaste of the entire evening fashioned to make us Filipinos proud. ABOVE THE CLOUDS

And so, the next day, came the raison d’etre of our Toulouse visit, the historic 11-hour ferry flight of the allnew PAL A350-900, as it made its way to its new home, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila. But not before a brief but meaningful ceremony and aircraft blessing, led by Asia Airbus executive vice president Jean Francis Laval, Rolls-Royce senior vice president for Airbus Christophe Molus, and Bautista, at the Airbus Delivery Center, from which we taxied into the Toulouse-Blagnac Airport and, with chief pilot Butch Generoso at the reigns, up to a maximum cruise altitude of 43,100 feet off the ground.

That was as high as any plane could go—and only a widebody like the A350 XWB can, Airbus’s largest, longest-range, highest-flying, and fastestcruising twin—and it was at this altitude and at this speed that the magic was truly palpable.

But to all that we were oblivious (or at least I was) at first, busy as we were trying to contain our excitement over being the first 80 or so people, including the crew, ever to board the PAL A350 that can comfortably seat up to 280 passengers. Champagne was poured and hors d’oeuvres were passed around and I was trying to discern the subtle touches on the interior design that spoke of Philippine culture and heritage. All that space, of course, all that impression of space, immediately translates to a good feeling, with its curves smooth enough, its lines flowing enough, its seats in Economy slight and graceful (not bulky and crowded) enough to soothe the most travel-weary nerves. THE PHILIPPINES IN FLYING COLORS

The entire interior design, in fact, is Filipino in theme. “The Philippine sky overhead,” said cabin designer Daniel Baron, pointing at the ceiling, “the highest cabin ceiling you can think of,” as earlier described by Joost van der Heijden, Airbus vice president for marketing (Asia and North America), “and,” continued Baron, “your 7,100 islands beneath it,” making a grand sweep of the seats covered in a fabric that, representing the indigenous weaves of the Philippines in some areas, changes its color, depending on the angle from which you look at it, like our islands shimmering in different hues under our glorious tropical sun, depending on the time of day. Together, the color scheme of the seat covers imitates the many shades of the waters, from turquoise to cobalt blue, that shelter our islands. The rear and forward wall panels are designed with the patterns of the barong Tagalog, these little details that provide a sense of home for returning residents or balikbayan or a cultural clue to the foreign visitor and, thus, add to the sense of wellbeing that is engendered in the flight experience.

As we settled in our seats, roomier by five inches from armrest to armrest than the seats in any other aircraft in its category at 18 inches at nineabreast in Economy Class, 19 inches with eight-abreast at Premium Economy, and 19 inches at four-abreast in Business on the A350’s tri-class configuration, a light show began, demonstrating the many moods that the 16.7 million color options of the full-LED lighting system could make possible. First, it was the colors of the Philippine flag that raised the nationalistic mood a few notches higher, and then it was the colors of the Philippine fiesta, the lights mimicking the colorful festive buntings, and, at last, riding on the celebratory vibe, the color of fireworks, fire in the sky—the bubblies in our glasses were drunk to the last drop! But that’s not all, the lighting, as well as the panoramic windows with builtin curtains that adjust electronically from transparent to fully opaque, is designed to ease you through the flight hours, taking you intelligently through the different phases of your journey, from dinner to bedtime to breakfast. And the noise of twin-Rolls Royce engines defying gravity? No problem. The A350 cabin is the quietest on any twin-aisle aircraft, with up to four times less noise than any aircraft in its class. I trust you will get as much sleep as you need, as I did in my seat that reclined into a fully flat bed 73 inches in length. My only regret is that I slept so well I only got to watch one movie on my 18.5-inch detachable screen TV (13.3 inches in Premium Economy, 11.6 inches in Economy), whereas ordinarily I could watch as many as five movies on a long-haul flight, say, from Manila to London. A ROOMIER SKY

Nevertheless, there are more things at work than lighting and noisereducing features to keep the passenger relaxed or to even reduce the effects of jet-lag. The air management systems are truly customer-sensitive, renewing cabin air every after two to three minutes to keep it draft-free with 20 percent more fresh air, optimizing not only the temperature but also the humidity. The result, and I swear by this, as I noticed just as I woke up before landing, is less dry skin, less dry eyes, less dry throat. It was like waking up in my room 39,000 feet below.

Too many superlatives to use in describing this aircraft and all its unique technologies and improved performance that result in greater passenger comfort, better profitability for its operator in terms of seat-mile cost that is 25 percent lower, longer reach in terms of destination, thanks particularly to the 25 percent step change it offers in fuel efficiency—but all I can say, as a traveler who wishes to travel more without any more of the accompanying hassles and inconveniences of modern travel than necessary, is that it really is fun to fly on the A350. It’s like a room in the sky, but roomier.

But one more thing: The A350 WXB generates 25 percent lower CO2 emissions, which makes it the most eco-efficient aircraft right now. Now there’s 25 percent less guilt in flying and, to me, that’s not just a big plus. It’s a world of difference.

The A350 XWB will soon service some of Philippine Airlines’ long haul routes nonstop such as Manila-New York and Manila-London. philippineairlines.com