Philippine Airlines is set to acquire seven aircraft next year as part of a regional and long-haul flight expansion.
PAL president and chief operating officer Jaime Bautista told reporters Tuesday the company would purchase five Airbus A321s and two Boeing 777.
“That’s the scheduled delivery for next year,” Bautista said at the sidelines of the re-launch of Mabuhay Miles.
Bautista said the company was studying whether it would will acquire Airbus 350s or Boeing 787 Dreamliner, a long-range twin-engine wide-body jet.
“We are working on it. We are talking to them, we are trying to get the best deal,” Bautista said, referring to Airbus and Boeing.
“When you buy an airplane you consider the technical and commercial aspects,” he added. PAL may use the aircraft for US and Europe flights.
PAL currently flies six Boeing 777-300ERs in daily flights to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver, Toronto and London.
PAL, which hired a financial adviser to help select a strategic investor, had planned to get a strategic investor in two to three years.
Bautista had said the company would be “more profitable” this year compared with last year.
PAL Holdings Inc. earlier reported a comprehensive income of P6.55 billion in the first nine months of the year from last year’s P169.1 million.
PAL Holdings attributed the sharp increase in comprehensive income during the period to strong revenues, which rose 10.8 percent to P81.98 billion from P73.98 billion a year ago.
PAL’s passenger revenue amounted to P68.37 billion in the first nine months of the year, up 12.5 percent from last year’s P60.78 billion.
Tycoon Lucio Tan last year bought back a 49-percent stake in PAL that San Miguel Corp. purchased from him in 2012.
Meanwhile, PAL unveiled a revitalized Mabuhay Miles Program in keeping with the company’s goal to provide its valued clientele greater mileage rewards, expanded program-partner options, more flexibility in earning and redeeming miles, additional travel perks and ancillary offerings.
The enhanced loyalty program now offers greater seat availability per flight for rewards redemption which will provide members the chance to convert miles to seats even on peak season.
More partnerships are slated to be forged with establishments representing the five pillars of the Mabuhay Miles Program—fly, shop, dine, drive and unwind. The frequent flyer program’s industry program partners include financial institutions, hotels, telecommunication firms, foreign airlines, retailers and other travel-related companies.
