EMBATTLED flag carrier Philippine Airlines, Inc. (PAL) announced on Monday that it is planning to start increasing its international flights “by late October.”
The airline, which has filed for Chapter 11 creditor protection in the United States, anticipates an increase in leisure and business travel as vaccine coverage improves.
“By late October 2021, PAL plans to increase flights to San Francisco, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Guam, Singapore, Dubai, Doha, Nagoya and Fukuoka while continuing special flights to Auckland, Vietnam and points in Australia,” PAL said in an e-mailed statement.
It plans to add more flights to Honolulu and Taipei by the end of November.
“On domestic routes, the flag carrier is set to add flight frequencies to Iloilo, Legazpi, Butuan, Puerto Princesa, Bacolod, Dumaguete and Roxas City,” it said.
PAL is looking to add more flights between Cebu and Zamboanga, as well as Cagayan de Oro, Bacolod, Butuan and Davao.
“For the domestic sector, the additional frequencies are being planned for Q4 (fourth quarter) of 2021 in anticipation of gradual market recovery even as we remain cautiously optimistic,” PAL said in a statement sent to BusinessWorld in response to a request for further details.
The airline is gradually increasing flights on high-density routes and operating special commercial and repatriation flights to build passenger traffic.
“While demand may not come back to pre-pandemic levels until 2024, we will implement a fleet and network plan that will maintain Philippine Airlines as a market leader in the international and domestic sectors,” PAL Senior Vice-President Chief Strategy and Planning Officer Dexter C. Lee said.
Around 27% of PAL’s pre-pandemic flights currently cover 70% of its route network.
“PAL received US court approval last Sept. 9 for the first phase of its ongoing Chapter 11 restructuring plan, which will allow fresh capital to flow in even as the airline sustains its full range of flights and services,” the airline noted, referring to the first $20 million of its debtor-in-possession financing totaling $505 million.
PAL’s new business plan calls for exiting unprofitable markets and selectively increasing regional capacity in targeted growth markets.
The airline intends to consolidate domestic capacity from Clark International Airport to Manila International Airport “due to market demands.”
At the same time, PAL anticipates growing capacity in short haul regional routes, especially growth markets such as China, consolidating capacity in the West Coast gateways and canceling certain ultra-long-haul flights, while maintaining profitable opportunistic flying from Cebu. — Arjay L. Balinbin
