LONDON – Philippines Airlines and Airbus has signed an agreement to perform cabin modification of its 15 aircraft and expand the material services program for the PAL’s Airbus fleet.
The new Cabin Modification agreement will cover 11 A320, 2 A330-300s, and 2 A350-900s currently part of Philippines Airlines.
Under this agreement, PAL A320s will undergo seat reconfiguration, adding 24 additional seats and thus bringing total passenger capacity to 180 passengers, which will help PAL to attract more traffic on short-haul and inter-island routes.
The A330-300s will undergo reconfiguration of 50 seat addition, thus bringing a total seating capacity of 359, giving better airlift capability on key higher revenue and density routes within a region.
The new A350 will gain additional 18 seats, bringing total seating capacity to 313, giving more legroom and passenger-friendly experience with better cabin layout for PAL’s Business ad Economy class passengers.
With the new Cabin modification program as a part of PAL’s fleet restructuring plan, Airbus will also equip aircraft with service bulletins and kits, which are part of this agreement.
Speaking on this occasion, PAL Chief Financial Officer Nilo Thaddeus Rodrigues said:
“Philippine Airlines believes that, as we exit the pandemic, our fleet restructuring strategy helps us to better adapt to changing market situations and ensure that we are well-positioned for recovery, our aircraft deployment decisions and related technical support arrangements are tailored for a restructured network that suits a vastly different global environment.”
While Alvin Kendrich Limqueco, Senior Vice President of Supply Chain Management at PAL also expressed, “We chose Airbus with the firm expectation that PAL will receive high-quality Service Bulletins and timely updates to technical documentation, along with the highly regarded extensive engineering support we expect from a leading aircraft manufacturer.”
Furthermore, Philippines Airlines has also asserted that it is extending its Flight Hour Services (FHS) program with Airbus, which will cover all of its Airbus fleets, which will ensure guaranteed parts availability to maintain operational reliability and efficiency.
Speaking on the FHS extension agreement occasion, Anand Stanley, President Airbus Asia-Pacific has expressed that, “Airbus has its customers’ interests at heart and works closely with them to propose flexible material solutions that meet their needs.”
“We are pleased that PAL recognizes the significant savings and operational performance which Airbus can bring with FHS, extending the current arrangement to their A330 and A321 Family fleets.”
The current FHS program covers two Airbus A350, which will be extended to 37 more aircraft comprising of 29 Airbus A321 family aircraft with A321neos and eight A330ceos.
The FHS agreement will provide components standard exchange, repairs, component reliability, and engineering services along with inventory maintained at PAL maintained hanger at Manila base.
