PAL to increase US flight frequencies
SEATTLE, Washington – Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) will increase flight frequencies to its three destinations in the US starting December this year with additional 20 percent capacity as the Lucio Tan-owned company seeks to capture the growing mainstream market for direct-flight travelers for its three Manila-US routes.
PAL President Jaime Bautista said in a speech at a dinner for the turnover of PAL’s 7th Boeing 777-300ER aircraft here that the additional capacities follow after the addition of two new Boeing 777 aircraft. PAL’s 7th Boeing 777 was delivered on Friday while the 8th unit is due by December this year, bringing PAL’s overall 777-300ER fleet to 8 by end this year.
According to Bautista, PAL flights to LA will become twice daily. Once its 8th Boeing 777 is delivered in December, PAL’s frequency to San Francisco will also be increased from 11 to 14 flights a week. PAL’s current four-times-aweek flights to New York may also be expanded to five times a week next year because it has five times a week entitlement to fly out of Vancouver.
Based on the initial additional three flights a week using the Boeing 777300ER with bigger capacity of 376 seats from 254 seats of the A340, that will translate to additional 130 seats per day or capacity expansion of 15 percent to 20 percent.
This means, there will be no more A340 aircraft serving PAL’s three US destinations as these will be replaced by Boeing 777, except for the LA-Cebu route. The A340 will be used as standby aircraft while some are under refurbishment and maintenance or use these planes to fly to Australia and Honolulu, Bautista said.
“The market continues to grow, we have the advantage because we are the only carrier that flies non-stop to US from Manila,” he said.
PAL has a load factor of more than 80 percent on its US routes, its most profitable, but it only accounts for 40 percent of the market, which means that those who travel to the US are using other airlines because it is already difficult to book for a flight if it has already attained 80 percent load factor
“The average 80 percent load factor means we are already fully booked especially during the peak season in December,” he said. Thus, the need for additional capacities.
Aside from the Filipino-American travelers, there are more businessmen and more