Philippine Airlines said it plans to restructure its operations in China in preparation for the delivery of brand new aircraft this year.
“We have plans to do some reorganization in our China operation and the objective is to really look at the markets on which new cities we can fly,” PAL president and chief operating officer Jaime Bautista said.
Bautista said the company was set to take delivery of five Airbus 321s and two Boeing 777 this year.
“We are hoping that we can mount some of these airplanes to new destinations in China,” he said.
Sources said PAL was looking at the viability of Chengdu and Chongqing markets.
PAL already flies to Guangzhou, Beijing, Xiamen, Shanghai, Macau, Hong Kong and Jinjang.
Bautista added the Chinese market was normalizing after China issued a favorable travel advisory on its residents in September 2014.
Data from the Department of Tourism showed that visitors from China increased 17 percent to 415,868 in January to October last year from 354,202 in the same period in 2014.
PAL will be flying to Los Angeles from Cebu on March 15 and from Manila to Saipan on June 15.
Bautista earlier said PAL was set to sign a $1-billion deal with an aircraft manufacturer for six long-range, twin-engine wide-body jets next month.
Bautista did not identify the aircraft manufacturer, but he earlier said the company was looking at either Airbus A350 or Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
PAL Holdings Inc., the holding company of PAL, posted a net income of P6.55 billion in the first nine months of 2015 from P169.1 million in the same period in 2014.
PAL’s total revenues for the nine-month period reached P81.99 billion, up 10.8 percent from P73.98 billion year-on-year.
PAL attributed the favorable performance to higher passenger revenues and other sales generated during the period.