Philippine Airlines said it will spend $80 million this year to reconfigure eight A330 aircraft as a part of its strategy to achieve a five-star rating by 2020.
“So for us to be able to compete, we have to shape up. We have to be at par with the competition. This is the reason why we are reconfiguring our planes,” PAL president and chief operating officer Jaime Bautista told reporters.
“This is an important ingredient for us to get the four-star this year,” he said.
PAL is targeting to have a five-star rating by 2020 from the current three-star rating based on the latest audit by Skytrax.
The airline already converted one of its eight mono-class 414-seater A330-300s into a 309-seater tri-class model with business, premium economy and economy class sections.
Bautista said the company is spending $10 million per aircraft for the makeover.
“By December, the remaining seven A330s will be completed,” he said.
The reconfigured A330 will be utilized for the Manila-Honolulu-Manila route starting this month.
Other A330 tri-class planes will be unveiled in July for Melbourne, in August for Sydney, in September for Singapore, in October for Haneda, in November for Narita and in December for Osaka.
The airline led by tycoon Lucio Tan expects the delivery of two Boeing 777-300 ERs in December and five next-generation Bombardier Q400s in July to November.
The twin-engine A350-900 will become PAL’s new flagship aircraft.
PAL ordered six A350s, with an option for six more. The aircraft is capable of flying non-stop from Manila to New York.
The additional B777-300 ERs will be deployed to the London and North American routes.
PAL’s parent firm PAL Holdings Inc. earlier posted a total net loss of P904.7 million in the first quarter, a downturn from P2.71-billion income last year.