Philippine Airlines said it will embark on a major re-fleeting program once the Ninoy Aquino International Airport proceeds with expansion.
“We need to improve the airport first and get additional slots before we again embark on a major re-fleeting program,” PAL president and chief operating officer Jaime J. Bautista said.
Bautista said the airline was expecting to receive six aircraft this year.
“We expect the delivery of Airbus 350 next month and then within the next six months we’re taking delivery of two Airbus 321neo and two Q400,” he said.
“Last year, we had 15 aircraft deliveries,” Bautista said.
PAL allotted $650 million for 2019 capital expenditures to fund the aircraft acquisition.
PAL flies to 43 international and 35 domestic destinations using 95 aircraft, one of the youngest fleets in the industry with an average age of just five years.
ANA HD, the Japanese parent company of All Nippon Airways, earlier invested $95 million for a 9.5-percent stake in PAL parent PAL Holdings Inc.
ANA HD acquired the shares from Trustmark Holdings Corp. which is owned by the family of billionaire Lucio Tan and the largest shareholder of PAL Holdings.
The investment will increase the foreign ownership in the airline company from 8.77 percent to 18.27 percent.
PAL Holdings posted a net loss of P3.29 billion in the January-to-September period last year. Total revenues in the nine-month period reached P112.07 billion, up 16 percent from P96.58 billion a year ago.
