Airlines, Airplanes and Airports - Compiled Threads

[absent-minded]

this is supposed to be like the recent thread GreyX started before we were hacked.

Philippine Airlines

Old Style:
BAC 111-518FG One-Eleven at MNL - February 1985
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid108/pb6734569a0a20a9a16fde0f0853886a2/f9443657.jpg

At sundown:
Boeing 747-400 at LAX - March 9, 2004
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid108/pa79d20b88736b04d68008bcda4cca033/f94438af.jpg

In the middle of the night:
Boeing 747-400 at LAX - November 29, 2003
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid108/p08d5acd3309b9fc9268d199192eae530/f94438a7.jpg

From below:
Airbus A330-301 at SYD - February 8, 2004
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid108/p2a18f357d1c403204db1705b11396659/f94438b2.jpg

From the butt - touchdown:
Airbus A330-301 at SYD - February 8, 2004
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid108/pf483afac0fe600eead31ee28a8b0a6f6/f94438b8.jpg

Cebu Pacific

Cebuano Style:
Boeing 757-236/ET at CAN (Guangzhou) - August 18, 2003
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid108/pe3150adc4e7cea43d64b5fd1fb3beb9a/f9442c2d.jpg

At the beach:
Douglas DC-9-32 at MNL - February 11, 2004
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid108/p680497e98edddac50a6abbffadd298a4/f9442c26.jpg

The Patriot:
Douglas DC-9-32 at MNL - February 12, 2004
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid108/p5a11b12993e05c8ade1ddbcb258dc6e2/f944333f.jpg

Truly Pinoy:
Douglas DC-9-32 at MNL - November 2, 2003
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid108/p31b340f880f926fd6c4776ac9c02aec5/f9443278.jpg

[ryanr]

hey lance, airliners.net doesnt allow hotlinking. you would have to give us links to the site...:D

[absent-minded]

Originally posted by GreyX

hey lance, airliners.net doesnt allow hotlinking. you would have to give us links to the site...:D

yeah... i figured. hehehe... I've uploaded them onto ImageStation.

[ryanr]

Nice pictures...btw, is that PAL's new 747?

[bagel]

The BAC 111 was the first plane I've ever been on. I took a flight from Manila Domestic (the old one) to Cebu Mactan in 1980 when I was a five year old.

My goodness, that one has to be really old. The tail markings are inset in a circle. There's also an intermediate one between that marking and the current marking which is a cruder version of the current marking, without the sun.

[absent-minded]

Originally posted by boybaha

The BAC 111 was the first plane I've ever been on. I took a flight from Manila Domestic (the old one) to Cebu Mactan in 1980 when I was a five year old.

My goodness, that one has to be really old. The tail markings are inset in a circle. There's also an intermediate one between that marking and the current marking which is a cruder version of the current marking, without the sun.

yeah, that is really old... I can't find one that has the logo before the current one being used. there are way too many photos at airliners.net.

[absent-minded]

click here (http://www.airliners.net/open.file/536022/L/) for this awesome aerial shot of Manila! It was taken just last March 12, 2004. The tiny Makati area densely packed with scrapers looks awesome!

Btw, is that looong grey strip near the center (above NAIA 2) supposed to be Terminal 3? If it is, it's huge! It's like four times bigger than NAIA 2!

[bagel]

That's stunning! Someone should host that and post it here... too bad Imagestation shrinks... darn...

That's probably the coolest arial shot I've ever seen of Makati.

[ryanr]

wha...wha....wha...WOW!!!! Thats the most amazing aerial ever!!! Absolutely STUNNING!!:eek2: Nice find, Lance!!:)

If only we could see more of the north, but still thats awesome. NAIA should really be replaced by Clark. Look at how its at a dense area. Not really safe for the planes.

[ryanr]

I love the paint job on those Cebu Pacific planes...I wish PAL would paint their planes like that, white is too dull.

[ryanr]

One last thing, in the aerial you can see that NAIA 3 is as big as both NAIA 1 and 2. Maybe even bigger than the both combined.

[bagel]

Philippine Airlines 1959
Vickers Viscount.
This was in the days when they gave airplanes beautiful names. This one was called the Orient Star. Photo was taken at Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok Intl. Airport.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid108/pdcda38a910ff00e83b89d3449a53d5fe/f94414c2.jpg

[bagel]

15 March 2004
PAL marks 63rd year with Las Vegas service launch


MANILA - Philippine Airlines launches today (March 16) a much-awaited service to Las Vegas, Nevada via Vancouver, Canada - its first destination in the North American interior and a fitting milestone on the anniversary of its founding as Asia's first airline 63 years ago.

The inaugural flight, PR 106, departs Centennial Terminal 2 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at 4:40 p.m. with all 264 seats on the Airbus A340-300 taken.

On board are top PAL officials led by president and chief operating officer Avelino L. Zapanta executive vice president Henry So Uy, and officer-in charge of sales Enrique Javier.

They are joined by ranking government officials Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Franklin Ebdalin and Undersecretary of Tourism Evelyn Pantig. Also in the inaugural party are representatives from the Philippine travel trade and tourism community.

"Our foray to Las Vegas is a major step in our march to full rehabilitation," said Zapanta. "For the first time in seven years, PAL now flies to a point beyond the West Coast of North America, giving us a wider presence in the United States, our most important market. Coming just a day after our 63rd anniversary, this is an historic occasion indeed."

Yesterday (March 15), PAL observed its founding day in typically modest fashion, with religious services held at airline facilities throughout the country.

But the mood was clearly upbeat with the Las Vegas inaugural and the announcement by Zapanta that the flag carrier had vastly exceeded expectations by posting a profit of 555 million pesos (US$ 9.9 million) in the month of January 2004.

PAL's maiden flight to Las Vegas arrives there at 4:40 p.m., local time, after a one-and-a-half-hour stop in Vancouver where more guests from that city's travel trade and media will join.

An official welcome will be accorded PR 106's passengers at McCarran International Airport. The following day (March 17), PAL will host a press conference, cocktails and a performance by top Filipino balladeer Martin Nievera at the Golden Nugget.

Expected to grace these events are important personalities from the government, business, tourism and entertainment establishments in Las Vegas and Nevada. Among the confirmed attendees are Nevada Lieutenant Governor Lorraine T. Hunt and Manuel J. Cortez, president of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

The inaugural activities will be replicated in Vancouver when the PAL delegation and their guests head there on March 18.

The new service will operate four times weekly, with departures from Manila every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday at 4:40 p.m. Arrival in Vancouver and Las Vegas is at 12:45 p.m. and 4:40 p.m., respectively.

The return service departs Las Vegas at 6:40 p.m. on the same days. Arrival in Vancouver is 9:15 p.m. and in Manila at 5:20 a.m. two calendar days later.

PAL has full traffic rights between Las Vegas and Vancouver. Widebody Airbus A340-300 aircraft, configured into 12 First Class, 32 Mabuhay (Business) Class and 220 economy class seats, are deployed on the same-plane route.

Las Vegas is PAL's fifth U.S. destination after Los Angeles, San Francisco, Honolulu and Guam, and 24th internationally. PAL also flies to 18 points in the Philippines, with service to the 19th point - Laoag City in the northern Ilocos region - slated to start April 1, 2004.

Philippine Airlines was founded by a group of prominent Filipino businessman on February 16, 1941. A month later, on March 15, 1941, a twin-engine Beech Model 18, carrying two pilots and a full load of five passengers, took off from suburban Manila for the mountain resort of Baguio.

The flight made PAL the first commercial airline in Asia, launching an era in aviation history.

[renell]

that photo is awesome:guns1: shows the density of Makati. i was thinking of what the difference would be in 2010. ;)

[RafflesCity]

That aerial is awesome!

I also like the current PAL livery..very sunny:cool:

[mhe-ann]

wowowow! great aerial shot! :applause:

[ryanr]

Originally posted by absent-minded
Btw, is that looong grey strip near the center (above NAIA 2) supposed to be Terminal 3? If it is, it's huge! It's like four times bigger than NAIA 2!

Yes Lance, the long terminal on the north end of the secondary runway (grey one) is terminal 3. It looks much bigger than NAIA 2 and 1 combined!

[Eriq]

Originally posted by boybaha

That's stunning! Someone should host that and post it here... too bad Imagestation shrinks... darn...

That's probably the coolest arial shot I've ever seen of Makati.

http://mysite.verizon.net/vze2ym4v/images/aerial.jpeg

[ryanr]

I trying to upload it myself, but i cant...doesnt work. Eriq, i cant see that...somebody post it in the Makati thread

[bagel]

Hmm. It is a nice aerial shot... but it kind of makes Makati look dinky in a sea of suburban sprawl. And less green than I thought it was.

[ryanr]

Originally posted by boybaha

Hmm. It is a nice aerial shot... but it kind of makes Makati look dinky in a sea of suburban sprawl. And less green than I thought it was.

I thought Makati was not as green as that...You can see that Makati (northern parts of the picture) is very green. The sprawly and not green parts is Pasay City and parts of Paranaque.

[renell]

i believe this goes here....

Construction of Iloilo
int'l airport starts
Posted: 6:26 AM (Manila Time) | Mar. 23, 2004
By Nestor P. Burgos Jr.
Inquirer News Service

ILOILO CITY -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Sunday announced that the construction of the Iloilo international airport would start this month.

She told a news conference that the Department of Transportation and Communication and the Taisei-Shimizu Joint Venture signed the contract for the construction of the 6.2-billion-peso airport last March 15.


On Friday, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) signed its concurrence to the contract. JBIC is putting in 5.2 billion pesos for the project from its Special Yen Loan Package.

Ms Macapagal also announced the awarding of the contract to build a 4.8-billion-peso regional airport in Silay City, Negros Occidental to the Taneka-Itochu consortium.

The Iloilo airport is set to be completed in 42 months.

Ms Macapagal said the Iloilo City airport is the fourth busiest in the country in terms of the number of passengers next to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and the Mactan (Cebu) and Davao international airports.

The new airport will be constructed in a 188-hectare area straddling the towns of Sta. Barbara and Cabatuan, which is around 24 km west of Iloilo City.

It will have state-of-the-art facilities including a modern terminal, control tower buildings, and landing and navigation systems. It will have a runway 2.5 km long and 45 meters wide, a passenger terminal with 12,000 sq m of space and a 1,281 sq m-cargo terminal.

The President said more jobs and opportunities will be forthcoming with the opening of the Iloilo and Silay airports.

The site of the old airport in Mandurriao District here will be converted into a commercial and light industry complex, according to the President.

But a group of landowners under the Airport Concerned Alliance has accused the government of failing to provide an acceptable relocation site and livelihood programs for displaced families from the airport site.

Drilon said the government is addressing the complaint and allotted P20 million for it

[huaiwei]

Grr....how come I dont see any "aerial" shot u guys are musing about? :bash: ;)

Anyway, SIA flew to Las Vegas two years ago, and suspended it since the SARS crisis....its PAL's turn now to fly there! :D

[absent-minded]

Originally posted by huaiwei

Grr....how come I dont see any "aerial" shot u guys are musing about? :bash: ;)

Anyway, SIA flew to Las Vegas two years ago, and suspended it since the SARS crisis....its PAL's turn now to fly there! :D

It's over here! :wave: :D (http://www.airliners.net/open.file/536022/L/)

looks like a good route for PAL to expand into... I hear a lot of Pinoys in Vancouver want to visit Las Vegas... Maybe they should have one from SanFran or LA as well...

[huaiwei]

Originally posted by absent-minded

It's over here! :wave: :D (http://www.airliners.net/open.file/536022/L/)

looks like a good route for PAL to expand into... I hear a lot of Pinoys in Vancouver want to visit Las Vegas... Maybe they should have one from SanFran or LA as well... Eh? I still see no photo?? :?

Anyway, why dont PAL just fly straight from Manila to Las Vegas?

[renell]

well i think it's much more affordable, and i don't think they have enough planes.

after Vancouver, PAL used to fly to San Francisco, that was stopped, so now it has been replaced with Las Vegas

[drwho]

GMA bares P140-M airport project
To make Siargao Island a top tourist destination

By GENALYN D. KABILING

SURIGAO CITY – President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo unveiled here a P140-million Sayak airport expansion plan on Siargao Island to attract more foreign tourists and spur economic activities in the region.


At a proclamation rally of the Koalisyon ng Katapatan at Karanasan para sa Kinabukasan (K-4) attended by some 12,000 Surigaonons at the provincial gymnasium Saturday night, the President talked about government plans to make Surigao del Norte a top tourist destination.

The President said she had discussed with Secretary Leandro Mendoza of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC) the airport expansion project.

“To accommodate the influx of foreign tourists to Siargao Island, we need an expansion of the present airport. The project will cost around R140 million. I’d already talked with Secretary Mendoza to allocate P50 million, and Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) general manager Robert Dean Barbers will provide P50 million for this project,” she said.

The President also said that Barbers has earmarked an additional P50 million for the P140-million airport expansion project.

Aside from the airport expansion, the President also announced a P50-million modernization of the Siargao provincial gymnasium to revive sport activities in the province.

For expansion of the sport facility, K-4 re-electionist Sen. Robert Barbers pledged P5 million; Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, P5 million; Gov. Robert Lyndon Barbers, P10 million; and Philippine Tourism Authority General Manager Barbers, P10 million. The government will subsidize the remaining P20 million.

Other political leaders who attended the political rally were Surigao del Norte 1st District Rep. Glenda Ecleo and Surigao City Mayor Alfonso Cassura, Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay, Agusan del Sur Gov. Eddie Bong Plaza and Iligan City Mayor Franklin Quijano.

K-4 senatorial candidates present in the proclamation rally were reelectionist Senators Barbers, Rodolfo Biazon, Robert Jaworski and John Osmeña; former defense secretary Orlando Mercado, ARMM Gov. Parouk Hussin, former Videogram Regulatory Board chairman Ramon Revilla Jr. and former tourism secretary Richard Gordon.

From Bukidnon

SURIGAO CITY — President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, taking a helicopter ride from Bukidnon, arrived in the city Saturday to hold a campaign rally and met with the local government officials from the Caraga Region who declared full support to her presidential candidacy.

Along with her running mate Senator Noli de Castro and several K-4 senatorial candidates, the President heard a mass yesterday morning and made a quick motorcade in the city before she departed for Pangasinan for another sortie.

She recalled the Surigaonons have supported her political career particularly in winning elective posts in 1992 as senator and 1998 as vice president. She said she hopes that Surigao would swing her to victory in the May polls.

A day before the President and the rest of the K-4 coalition bets arrived here, local government officials declared Surigao del Norte “a K-4 country.”

Malaybalay City, Surigao del Norte Governor Robert Lyndon Barbers, Rep. Glenda Ecleo (1st District), Rep. Robert Ace Barbers (2nd District), and Surigao City Mayor Alfonso Cassura predicted an overwhelming victory for the administration candidates in the May 10 national polls.

Following the steady rise in Arroyo’s ratings in pre-election surveys, Governor Barbers said the electorate has realized that the country needs an experienced leader like Arroyo to achieve sustained progress in the next six years.

The residents of this city gave a warm welcome to the President and the K-4 senatorial candidates led by Senator Barbers during their overnight visit here. K-4 Senatoriables present in the proclamation rally were re-electionist Senators Barbers, Rodolfo Biazon, Robert Jaworski, John Osmena, former Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado, ARMM Governor Parouk Hussin, former VRB Chief Ramon Revilla Jr and former Tourism Secretary Richard Gordon.

Security up

SURIGAO CITY — Presidential campaign spokesman Michael Defensor yesterday said President Arroyo’s security would be raised to protect her from possible assassination by her desperate enemies who seek to dislodge her as the frontrunner in the presidential race.

“We did not expect that the surveys would be this high. We’re worried that elements might get desperate and do something with the President,” he said.

Defensor however could not pinpoint the enemy or enemies of Arroyo, who has overtaken movie actor Fernando Poe Jr. in opinion polls.

“I don’t want to allude to anyone but of course this is an election. Historically, some things happened when you have a leading candidate especially in a heated fight,” he said.

He said national and local candidates often create enemies during elections. “Kahit sino puwede,” he added.

Defensor denied the administration camp was being paranoid and admitted they have not received any major death threats against the President.

“The President is still the President and if the polls are going up as early now, then we have to ensure her security,” he said.

With the lingering threat to the life of Arroyo, Defensor said he has to coordinate the campaign sorties with the Presidential Security Group (PSG) to ensure the safety of the incumbent.

The new security plan would include the limited movement of the President during her visits in the provinces but not to the extent of wearing bulletproof vests, Defensor said.

Defensor recalled a minor security incident in the Pangasinan sortie two weeks ago when a man with a knife was apprehended before he could approach the President.

During campaign visits of the President, a group of PGS personnel accompany Arroyo most of them in civilian clothes. An advanced PSGM team is usually sent to the campaign site a day before the President’s arrival for security arrangements.

The President however often breaks her campaign schedule when she suddenly disembarks from her car to greet residents waiting in the streets. The close-in security aides jostle with the crowd preventing them from getting too near to the President.

http://www.mb.com.ph/MAIN200403084279.html

[ryanr]

All good news! Isnt Surigao the place where there are cloud-9 waves, one of the best waves for surfing? If so, then this airport will surely increase tourism activity there esp. for surfers.

[renell]

Originally posted by GreyX

All good news! Isnt Surigao the place where there are cloud-9 waves, one of the best waves for surfing? If so, then this airport will surely increase tourism activity there esp. for surfers.

yeah, the top surfing destination in the country, because of the Pacific Ocean waves.

[ryanr]

Then im glad the govt. is improving infrastructure there. Tourism is very important to the economy and surfers are great tourists to have as they come and numbers and spread the word to non-surfers too.

[ryanr]

Something on NAIA 1:

NAIA terminal congestion blamed on design flaw

By Sandy Araneta
The Philippine Star 04/04/2004

The officer-in-charge of the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) has attributed the congestion and long lines of passengers at the departure area to a flaw in the design of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 building.

"There is a defect in the design of the NAIA Terminal 1 building," said lawyer Oscar Paras Jr. during a press conference last Friday in Pasay City.

Paras, who has taken over as airport chief while MIAA General Manager Edgardo Manda campaigns for President Arroyo, said they would be taking care of the problem by early next week as complaints from passengers continue to mount.

He explained that the NAIA Terminal 1 building was built in such a way that the distance from the entrance at the front lobby to the X-ray machines is just a few meters.

"The queuing extends up to the stairs going down the terminal," Paras said.

Passengers said the new security measures being implemented by the NAIA security officers has significantly slowed down the check-in process.

Passengers are required to remove belts, cellular phones, wallets containing coins, bags and other metallic objects as well as their shoes, which are then placed in baskets so they can pass through the X-ray machines.

Paras stressed that everyone must follow the security measures amid terrorist threats and attacks worldwide.

He advises passengers to check in early, especially for international flights at the NAIA terminals.

"We simply cannot comprise security," Paras said. Meanwhile, earlier that day, Paras led the ceremonial "switch on" of lighting masts and street lights at the NAIA General Aviation (GenAv) area.

The project, which cost P11 million, includes the installation of eight lighting masts at the GenAv area, six of which are at the south GenAv and two at the north Genav.

Each mast consists of five to eight halide bulbs of 1,500 watts each.

Ten streetlights of 400 watts each are installed around the access road surrounding the hangars.

With the new lights, MIAA will be paying an estimated P157,000 additional expense per month for electricity .

The company tapped to undertake the project was Evercon Builders & Equipment Corp. It was completed within 141 days, from Nov. 3, 2003 to Feb. 21, 2004.

---------------------

Why? Just move to NAIA 3 to ease all the problems!!:D

[renell]

man, that means i have to face that in 2 weeks.

[ryanr]

Yeah...Last January, on my way back to Jakarta, we were stuck on the entrance of NAIA 1 for more than an hour....the line was just so damn long.

[Thunderflip]

That is the most amazing Philippine aerial I've ever seen in my life!PAL is the first airline in Asia, be proud of it!Cebu Pacific has colorful planes,with this you can see how prosperous Cebu is!Pieces of art that fly in the sky,how patriotic is this!

[SKYLINEPIGEON]

More European carriers cease Manila flights

Another European carrier has joined the growing number of European airlines that have stopped flying to the Philippines for lack of traffic, particularly tourists, and cutthroat competition.

Effective last March 28, Swiss International stopped its flights to Manila.

Likewise, on April 1, Air France, another European carrier, ceased direct flights from Paris to Manila and will now be flying via Bangkok.

Earlier, British Airways and Alitalia stopped flying to the country, while KLM has ceased its direct Europe-Philippines flights and is now flying via Kuala Lumpur.

The National Association of Independent Travel Agencies (NAITAS), the largest organization of travel and tour operators in the country, expressed sadness over this development.

Robert Lim Joseph, NAITAS chairman, said while the country has given traffic rights and access to European carriers, market realities have made these airlines decide to stop their flights to the country.

"Now that we don’t have direct flights to the biggest tourist market in the world, it would be very difficult to promote our country in Europe. This means less tourists from Europe," Joseph said.

He said European traffic "will now instead go to our neighbors in Asia as they have direct flights and shorter traveling time."

"We have tourism officers in Europe but without direct Europe flights, how can our attaches promote the country," he pointed out.

To add to the problem, Joseph said, the country has increased the flight entitlements of Middle East and Asian carriers to Manila, enabling these airlines to poach on the RP-Europe market.

He said one major reason for the withdrawal of European carriers is the very low fare as Middle East carriers are dumping prices due to excessive frequencies given to these airlines.

The privately-owned European and Philippine carriers could not compete fairly with the government-subsidized Middle East airlines, and thus felt the economic pressure to cut back or stop operations to Manila.

What is ironic, Joseph said, is that we have accommodated Middle East carriers to fly more frequencies to our country but the Department of Tourism has not promoted Middle East traffic to the Philippines.

On the other hand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Thailand have been aggressive in their promotional efforts, thus getting a substantial slice of the Middle East traffic.

He criticized the move of the Freedom to Fly Coalition (FFC) to open up Philippine skies purportedly to attract tourists.

"Without the market there will be no flights," Joseph said.

He refuted FFC’s claim that giving foreign carriers more flights would make the Philippines a hub. "What the FFC does not know is that these foreign airlines prefer flying via Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong, so we have made our Asian neighbors the hub, not our country."

[ryanr]

Sad news for our aviation industry and tourism volume. Too bad.

Another major carrier that seized its flights to MNL is United. It took place a while ago but still less flights to MNL:(

[ryanr]

Maybe they could come back when NAIA 3 is open and also Clark.

[SKYLINEPIGEON]

but according to the latest news tourist arrivals did increase this year compared last year despite of the travel advisories, security concern, kidnapping, terrorist threats and bombings, political uncertainties, crimes etc etc i do believe that our country is still a safe place to live and tourists that comes in are not so concern abt this they know they can stay and enjoy their stay safe and sound

[SKYLINEPIGEON]

when it comes to tourism sadly we are left behind by our neighbours, singapore, malaysia, thailand, indonesia and even vietnam

[renell]

well that article didnt cite any terrorism, but most European airlines do stopover certain SEA cities before traveling to Manila.

i guess it's just all due to competition. but good thing it's not complete cut-off of European flights. it is true that in Frankfurt-Bangkok flights, the airplane is full, but in the Bangkok-Manila sector, there are considerably less people

[renell]

oh i forgot to tell i got a hold of this T3 brochure, but it's quite old. ill scan it, but it probably contains what the website says

[ryanr]

i guess it's just all due to competition. but good thing it's not complete cut-off of European flights. it is true that in Frankfurt-Bangkok flights, the airplane is full, but in the Bangkok-Manila sector, there are considerably less people

Yeah, i bet thats true renell.

Well, if our country promotes itself more and the security problems lessen, we should see more tourism come in. Its good that despite all these problems, there are still a growing number of tourists. Much more without these problems, eh?!!

[renell]

well at least the flights are still there. maybe this gives PAL a chance to kickback their Manila-Europe direct flights with no competition

[ryanr]

True, but i also like it if more international carriers fly to MNL.

[SunKing]

I don't think many people know that the first transpacific flight terminated in Manila, on November 22, 1935. The flight was operated by Pan American World Airways using the Martin M-130 'China Clipper.' That flight started fifty years of partnership between Pan Am and the PI until Pan Am sold its Pacific routes to United. United ultimately dropped MNL as a destination.

<img src="http://www.zpub.com/sf/history/Pa014.jpg"></img>

If you look closely, you'd be able to see the Manila Hotel in the background.

[ryanr]

Yeah i can see Manila Hotel. Looks like its one of the tallest back then:D

Interesting... So before NAIA, planes used to land on the water?
To bad United dropped its long past if flying to MNL.

[SunKing]

Yeah, before NAIA and Nielsen (Filipinas Heritage Library now), which used Ayala Avenues as a runway, the big ocean-going airplanes took off and landed on water because they were too heavy to be launched from land.

[ryanr]

Oh yeah i forgot about Nielsen. Ayala ave and Makati ave used to be runways:D Interesting.

So Manila's aviation history was....manila bay then Nielsen and now NAIA...future is Clark!

[SunKing]

....manila bay then Nielsen and now NAIA...future is Clark!
I certainly hope so!

[ryanr]

Me too:) And i'm certainly sure the future is Clark;)

btw, please reply in the "roll call" thread, Sunking:)

[renell]

oh i just remember Iren Dornier, grandson of the maker of Dornier airplanes in the 30's and 40's, is flying a restored classic airplane to promote the Philippines as a tourist destinations.i believe he's based in Clark. and he's not a local, but a German.

[SunKing]

oh i just remember Iren Dornier, grandson of the maker of Dornier airplanes in the 30's and 40's, is flying a restored classic airplane to promote the Philippines as a tourist destinations.i believe he's based in Clark. and he's not a local, but a German.
Yeah, I read about that in the Inquirer, <a href="http://www.inq7.net/nat/2004/feb/09/nat_10-1.htm">"German Pilot to fly Museum Plane to Promote RP."</a>

[renell]

here's for those people who have slow connection

German pilot to fly museum
plane to promote RP
Posted: 3:20 AM (Manila Time) | Feb. 09, 2004
By Tonette Orejas
Inquirer News Service

CLARK SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONE, Pampanga -- For 12 months, German pilot Captain Iren Dornier will fly a family heirloom across 52 countries to promote the Philippines as a tourism and investment destination.

Dornier's world tour, possibly the longest international campaign blitz ever made for the Philippines, will be via the Do-24ATT, now hailed as the first seaplane in the country.

The aircraft was unveiled on Saturday night at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport here where Dornier's domestic airline company, South East Asian Airlines (Seair), has been serving 20 routes in the last nine years.

Designed and built in 1939 by Dornier's grandfather Claude, the aircraft and 200 more similar models rescued more than 11,000 people at sea, mostly Europeans, during World War II.

Dornier, 45, got the plane back from the German museum Flugwerft Oberschleissheim where it had been lent.

The aircraft, which was originally called "Do-24," had been restored by Dornier and his team of Filipino engineers. It has been kept at the Seair hangar in the last 13 months since it arrived via the Subic Freeport in December 2002.

Nikos Gitsis, Seair director, said the company invested six million dollars (about 336 million pesos) on the aircraft.

Now fitted with turbine engines, expanded wing and landing gear, Dornier said the aircraft would be one of the contributions of the Philippines in the world celebration of the centennial of the aviation industry.

Dornier said getting the aircraft from the museum and bringing it to this former American military base were "very difficult."

Gitsis said it was the centerpiece plane for the German museum. There, it had been exhibited as an archetype of modern seaplanes, having been converted in 1971 into an amphibious aircraft.

Dornier also said it was a "logistical nightmare transporting the plane from one side of the earth to the other."

The Philippine government has featured the Do-24ATT on limited commemorative stamps in celebration of the aviation industry centennial this year.

"We want to hit the destinations. We want to visit many, many people and show them this aircraft around. We have the intention to invite business partners for the Philippines, to come to the Philippines, to invest in our company or in the Philippines to improve what needs to be improved here," Dornier told the Inquirer.

He said the plane's stopovers would include the Hudson River in New York, Hong Kong's harbor, and the coasts of South America.

Germany and Switzerland are also in the route because Claude first launched the Do-24 in those countries.

While the world tour is every bit a sales pitch for the Philippines, Dornier will also bring into this undertaking a sense of heritage. The plane, he said, has a "sentimental value for me."

"It represents the spirit of my grandfather and the family Dornier, which stands for quality and commitment. I'm trying to continue to live that way and to be that way with my co-workers and people, to work hard, and to focus on the right thing to do and provide some quality that is needed here," he said.

Dornier may have imbibed his grandfather's love for building and flying planes, and contributing pioneering achievements in aviation history.

Gitsis, writing for Seair's magazine InFlight, said Claude built the world's largest "flying boat," the Do-X. The 12-engine and three-deck aircraft flew successfully in 1929. On board were 169 passengers.

"[Claude] Dornier made and broke many records and still holds many. One record Dornier still holds is that of the fastest series piston engine aircraft, the Do335 built in 1943 as a multipurpose fighter aircraft," Gitsis wrote.

Gitsis said Claude built the Do31 three years before his death in 1969. It was the "first and still the only vertical take-off jet transport built in the world." Gitsis said.

By the time of his death, Claude had designed more than 70 aircraft models.

But Claude's biggest contribution is in the aspect of aviation engineering.

Claude, according to Gitsis, "established the three basic principles which were to guide the entire development of the aircraft industry over the next century." These were the use of "metal structural frames (versus wood); use of smooth aluminum skin surfaces (versus cloth and corrugated metal); and components must be connected by rivets and screws."

The Do-24ATT, according to Dornier, evolved from the line of aircraft that Claude patterned after whales.

"He loved the ocean, he loved the sea and enjoyed building planes," Dornier said of his grandfather.

Dornier's world tour takes off as soon as the major sponsors are finalized.

"I'm very limited with my funds, but I, more or less, have given my heart and my soul into this company," he said.

He is, as he avowed, a pilot and businessman "with full faith in the Philippines."

"It's going to a point where you have realized that there is no perfect place on this earth, and I believe the Philippines is definitely a country with a lot of future. And I hope to do my part that this country will improve one way or the other and even though it takes a lot of time," he said.

What he particularly likes about the country are its workers.

"I like very much to work with Filipinos; they're very intelligent and hardworking. All they need is a little bit of guidance and I believe this is what the country needs. This is an extraordinary country and has a lot of potentials also in tourism development," Dornier said.

Seair's operations began in Clark Air Field in 1994 when it was still buried under tons of Mt. Pinatubo's ash and sand.

From one Dornier plane doing once-a-day flight to Boracay and Palawan, the company now has nine 19-seat LET410 planes.

Gitsis said the firm's gross revenue grew by 25 percent last year.

After the world tour, the Do-24ATT will join Seair's fleet as a luxury charter plane for exclusive resorts and travelers.

The aircraft's original gun dome had been converted into a glass dome. This two-seater area provides a full view of the sky. The 19-seater plane has a bar, kitchen, television monitors and leather seats.

Gitsis said chartering the plane would cost 150,000 pesos an hour.

"This is a commitment to doing a unique project. This is not a money-making venture. It's an investment in the image of the company, in the image of Philippines as a tourist and business destination," Gitsis said.

"You can't find the Do-24ATT anywhere. This is something special to the Philippines," he said

[absent-minded]

yeah... I read about that before. its nice to see foreigners like these who go out of their way to help and preserve the rich history of the country they now call home - something that many others just take for granted. also good to see how Lucio Tan takes pride in PAL - Asia's first and best airline - and pours in so much money into it to keep it alive.

oh yeah... another good thing about Philippine aviation - we've got some of the world's BEST PILOTS. and I say that proudly as a Pinoy!! my mom just left for NY this morning and on the way to the airport, she was telling us how smoothly PAL landed the flight she came into YVR on last month... I've heard a whole lot of other people saying how amazingly smooth PAL's pilots can land planes - even on NAIA's bumpy runway! that's no exaggeration! something some of the world's best airlines (Cathay, hint hint - sorry, but Cathay's pilots suck at landing, even at HKIA's pretty new runway. peace!) can't beat, boast or argue aboout! and PAL's pilots are purely Pinoy trained at PAL's own flight school...!!

[SunKing]

we've got some of the world's BEST PILOTS. and I say that proudly as a Pinoy!!

I agree, there are times when I don't feel that the plane has already landed, especially if the asphalt is in very good condition! I also remember reading about a bomb that detonated aboard a PR 742 while on approach to NRT and it blew a hole into the fuselage yet the pilot managed to land the plane safely!

PR has really stepped up its service! Their international flights have excellent service: outstanding food, outstanding wine, courteous crew, and clean planes. Their Mabuhay magazine won best inflight magazine last year, I think. I hope to see them restore flights to Europe and the East Coast soon, but I think this could only happen if they get more planes.

[absent-minded]

holy sweeet! how can you possibly land a plane with a hole blown through it??? hahaha... that is so cool! sounds like some of the plane hijacking movies. that's how good Pinoys can be!!! and all the other so-called "best" airlines claim to go as deep as into the last, tiny detail. well, they forgot the landing - and it's one of the biggest details on a flight....!

yeah... I remember PAL winning that prestigious inflight food award too... the Chaines des Rotisseur. it was the first airline to ever win the award!!! and PAL's Inflight Center caters to all airlines that land at Manila! maybe that's why they get such good food on Cathay's flights out of NAIA! hehehe.... j/k! I think I've also heard about the thing on the magazines. I believe PAL is one of Asia's most under-rated airline, which is why it's losing so much money....

all PAL needs is to improve on its planes. they should get the economy class upgraded to finally accomodate personal TVs. that's one thing it lacks. other than that, PAL can easily size up to Cathay/SQ/Thai/Malaysia... (Cathay is just plain overrated to me, sorry....) Pal's cabins have so much more legroom and the economy seats have great pitch. a little improvement on bus/first class won't hurt either... Lucio Tan should shell out a little more on PAL and it'll probably bring back so much more..

[absent-minded]

oh... I just found out that some of PAL's planes actually have personal TVs on economy. my bad....

read about it on some reviews here (http://www.carsurvey.org/air/airline_Philippine+Airlines.html). from many of these good passenger comments, it's pretty obvious that ratings given by many other sites are extremely and unfairly under-rated.

[renell]

i just read something from my newspaper archives i brough to Belgium. Cebu City's Mactan International Airport's runway 22 needs repaving. apparently planes landing there creating so much smoke.

[ryanr]

Yeah PAL won the best Inflight magazine award for Asia last year.

I dunno, i was too happy with the breakfast meals in PAL. Not that good. But lunch and dinner are delicious.

I agree with Lance. PAL really needs to improve their planes. Their seats are not on par with SQ and other airlines. They need to improve their economy class by installing more personal TVs, especially for long haul flights. Not all their A340s and 747s have personal tvs for economy class. I think only one or two planes have them. They also need to put more legroom for economy class. I find it really small. SQ is so much more comfortable. Yes, our service is improving but still needs to catch up to SQ.

Yeah, Mactan International Airports runway is in need of repairs. It has loose pebbles and is not smooth. It damages the airplanes tires, which is quite dangerous. They should repair them routinely. The airport authority shouldn't be told to repair them and have this big controversy. This is what i dont like about the philippines. They should just automatically repair the slightest damage without all the "blah, blah, blah"!

[ryanr]

oh yeah, PAL's pilots are indeed some of the best in the world. They are smooth and their landings are just perfect. When i ride SQ or Cathay i can feel the thud of the landing but in PAL, it is so smooth.

btw, there were some nice reviews of PAL in that website, absent. Impressive. But it also got bad reviews, especially in the Jakarta-Manila flight. And i do agree with them. Jakarta-Manila PAL flight is horrible! Thats why i always use SQ!:)

[SunKing]

...Jakarta-Manila PAL flight is horrible! Thats why i always use SQ!:)

I've heard that the CKG-MNL flight is horrendous! Anyways, PR doesn't have commonality in the fleet! I believe there is only one out of five B747-400s that has PTVs in Economy (this plane was originally intended for Kuwait Airways) and the 744s use the older seats. The Airbus A330/A340s, on the other hand, are much more comfortable and the seats have those small "wings" which you could fold towards you. And they've also begun using a reorchestrated version of Jose Mari Chan's Love at Thiry Thousand Feet for boarding/deboarding music and I've also seen an ad featuring Jazz singer Kevyn Lettau.

On another note, I just came across this article from The Philippine Star:

European travellers shun RP due to absence of direct flights

The Philippine Star 04/16/2004

It is no surprise why fewer European tourists have visited the Philippines and their number will continue to drop in the coming years, it was learned yesterday.

According to Filipino airline executives, travelers have found it very inconvenient to take the flights from Europe to the Philippines because most airlines serving the route make stopovers or have connecting flights.

"There are no more nonstop or direct flights from Europe to the Philippines because the European carries have either stopped flying to Manila or made the country a mere extension or "tag-end" of their Europe-Bangkok operations," they said.

Philippine Airlines (PAL), the country’s flag carrier, suspended all European flights in 1998. Plans to resume them in 2001 and 2003 were aborted because of overcapacity and the resulting Philippines-Europe market diversion to Middle Eastern carriers.

The drop in tourist arrivals has been traced to the government’s decision granting unjustified and excessive capacity increases to Middle East carriers that eventually led to the stoppage or scaling back of the Philippines-Europe operations of European airlines.

"The mostly privately-owned European and Philippine carriers could not compete fairly with the subsidized Middle East airlines, which use their excess capacity to poach on the RP-Europe market. These Mideast carriers concentrate on the Filipino migrant worker traffic being served by direct European carriers," they said.

They pointed out that as a result of the unfair competition from Mideast airlines, these European and RP carriers have to cut back or stop their Philippines-Europe operations.

They stressed that with the absence of direct or nonstop flights from Europe to Manila, it is now more difficult to promote the Philippines as a tourist destination in the vital European market.

"It is difficult to attract European tourists to the Philippines if they are forced to take such indirect and circuitous routings offered by the Middle East carriers, specially in this age of terrorism scares," they added.

They said the Philippine government has been very generous in granting seat entitlements to Middle Eastern carriers at the expense of the Europe tourist market.

Data showed that the whole Middle East region produced only 18,456 tourists in 2003 as compared to Europe’s 175,618 tourists during the same period.

Among the European carriers that have ceased flying to the Philippines are British Airways, Swiss International, Aeroflot, Alitalia and Lufthansa Cargo. Air France and Lufthansa have made Manila a mere extension of their Frankfurt-Bangkok operations.

Data showed that in 1997-98, there were 12 nonstop flights per week from Europe to the Philippines. Now, there is none.

During the same period, there were 39 flights per week to the Philippines from European cities like Frankfurt, Paris, Rome, London, Zurich, Amsterdam and Moscow. Now, there are only 19 flights per week from Frankfurt, Paris and Amsterdam.

[absent-minded]

let's hope for the best that PAL can do something to bring flights back. maybe codeshare or team up with BA or Lufthansa to operate Euro-Manila routes to gain some ground over the Middle Eastern carriers...

[ryanr]

Thats sad. I hope our government can do something about this. They should promote tourism into our country more. They should also entice foreign airlines to fly to the Philippines. And they should also support PAL so that it can once again fly direct flights to Europe and compete with Mid-east airlines.

[renell]

well i don't think it has to do with terrorism or any of our own doing. if i read correctly, it is because of Mid-East carriers and their strong competition

[ryanr]

Thats what i said. Mid-East carriers are very competive because their governments subsidize airline fees, making them cheaper.

[SunKing]

I don't where to put this but I wanted to share this picture of Air Force One taken by Andreas Klingel when Dubya visited Manila on 18 October 2003.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid113/pe0e149e9fe4fbd4180954e1e1d337fb0/f8f24ceb.jpg

[ryanr]

Cool...I love that plane. Dont they have a decoy Air Force one too? I heard it landed on NAIA before the actual AF1.

[SunKing]

Cool...I love that plane. Dont they have a decoy Air Force one too? I heard it landed on NAIA before the actual AF1.
Yup, there it is behind AF1. I think the press uses it and some staff of Dubya. They even brought Marine One for the state visit although he wasn't able to use it. AF1 was escorted by F-15s from Japan and peeled off just prior to landing.

[ryanr]

There was even a proposal to launch Marine One with the president from AF1 so that there is no need for landing AF1. Weird huh? Cant imagine how that will work.

[renell]

sounds complicated to me, but i wouldnt be surprised. after all, this is regarding the leader of the most powerful nation in the globe right now.

i'm not too fond of the AF1 colors. though from what i've heard, it's features are very eye-catching

[SKYLINEPIGEON]

hey philippine airlines is no 52 in the 2002 ranking of world airlines in terms of passengers flown, its fleet is around 29 anybody can cnfm but our neighbours thai airways, singapore, and malaysian airlines are in the top 20

[SunKing]

PR has 30 aircraft, this includes the Boeing 747-400 leased from GE Capital. This 744 was originally ordered by PR but was taken up by Canadian and later went to Air Canada.

[renell]

PAL is still lagging behind the great SIA and the emerging Malaysian flag-carrier. but it has done a good job 6 years after reconstructing

[ryanr]

PAL used to be the flagship carrier in the region but when the Philippine economy fell, it fell with it. Now it is lagging behind almost all major airlines in the region. But it is getting back on its feet, and growing quite rapidly.

I have a question, how old are the 747s PAL are using? And whenever it buys a new plane, it doesnt get them brand new right? Either leased or second had. Wish PAL got brand new planes like 777s and 747s. Maybe even A340s and A380s:D

[SunKing]

PR's first 747-400 was manufactured and delivered to them in 1993 and the newest 744 was manufactured in 1996. It is the one originally intended for Kuwait Airways but PR took it since it is a Combi model, meaning about half of the main cabin could be converted for carrying cargo, I believe this is the one with the PTVs. The 744 which was delivered to them in February was manufactured and delivered to Canadian Airlines in 1995. So that would make the 744 fleet, what, 9.5 years old? I think all their planes are leased, the registered owner of the 4 US-registered 744s is a 'Wilmington Trust Company' in Delaware and the latest one is from GE Capital. The Airbus A330/A340s are French-registered, some 737s are registered in Ireland, although the A320s and also a handful of 737s are PI-registered.

On a personal note, I think it's time to change their livery, this one was introduced back in 1986! I don't think it looks old but it makes the fuselage look too bland, I love the tails, though.

Anyway, here are two images of PR's first forays into Las Vegas.:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid113/pc721ec1f2dcb03a84a8b5ce76000b1b7/f8e98878.jpghttp://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid113/pfc5443b0cfefb3f5661cd776c8a00ad5/f8e9887a.jpg

[SunKing]

Hmm, some bad news:
Tuesday, April 27, 2004

PAL, 2 other fliers get attack threats

BANGKOK—Three airlines, including Philippine Airlines (PAL), have been threatened with attacks on their Bangkok offices, in warnings thought to be issued by a group that has targeted Asian embassies, flights and tourist spots, Thai police said Monday.

Police said Korean Air, Philippine Airlines and Kuwait Airways received letters warning of strikes against their offices, in a campaign believed to be linked to US-led operations in Iraq.

Special Branch commander Tritot Ronaritwitichai said the letters were similar to warnings sent to the Pakistani and South Korean embassies last week by a mysterious group known as the “Yellow-Red Overseas Organization.”

“The letters are similar to that sent to the Korean Embassy; the format and fonts are similar. We believe they are the same group,” he said, adding that investigators were trying to determine whether the threat was genuine.

“We believe that Thai people who are opposed to the troop deployment in Iraq are behind this...However, we think they do not have the capacity to carry out what they threaten in the letters.”

Thailand is deliberating whether to withdraw its 440-strong troop deployment in Iraq due to the deteriorating security situation there.

A Korean Air representative said security around its operations at Bangkok airport had been stepped up but that services were operating normally.

“The letter threatened terrorist attacks against the airline office in Bangkok, but not against flights,” he told Agence France-Presse.

He said Singapore Airlines had also received the threats, but police said they were only aware of letters to the three airlines and a Singapore Airlines official declined to comment.

Kuwait Airways was immediately able to respond, but a Philippine Airlines representative confirmed a letter had been received. “We don’t have any idea who is responsible,” he said.

The Korean Air official played down the warnings, saying he did not believe it was a serious threat.

“I don’t think the people behind this letter are really aiming to mount a terrorist attack,” he said.

“I think it was done by a group which has lost advantages in Korea and are using the current situation where people are concerned about terrorism for their benefit.”

The official said one group under suspicion were labor brokers in Thailand who were being closely monitored by South Korean authorities after workers they tried to send to South Korea were turned back.

Thai authorities said last week that they were taking seriously the first set of letters which threatened attacks on major facilities in Australia, Japan, Kuwait, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand between April 20 and 30.

With the exception of Pakistan and Kuwait, all the countries listed have been involved in US-led operations in Iraq. Islamabad became a key ally in Washington’s war on terror after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

The threat came ahead of the planned visit to Thailand by Pakistani Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali from April 28 for talks with his counterpart Thaksin Shinawatra.
-- AFP

[ryanr]

:no: Terrorists also had a plan before 9/11 to bomb USA bound planes crossing the pacific, and i heard that one of their targets were PAL planes.

[renell]

yeah, i remember reading that in time magazine..

[David-80]

Some info from Indonesia.

Garuda Indonesia will resume (Jakarta) CGK-MNL flight on december with using Boeing 73G Next generation (the new version). this will make the 1st 73G land in Manila.

And Indonesian carrier, Lion air also plan to fly from Manado to MNL with using Boeing MD-83. currently Bouraq Indonesia airlines flies to Davao from Manado with Boeing 732.

Good news for Manila !

cheers

[ryanr]

Thats good. Its been a long time since there have been direct flights between Manila and Jakarta. Whenever i go home from Jakarta, i always have to stop by Singapore. This doesnt bother me because i like stopping over at Changi, but it does get tiresome. Currently, PAL has a codeshare flight with Garuda for the MNL-SIN-CGK and vice versa flights. They use Airbus A330s in this route.

I usually (90% of the time) use Singapore Airlines whenever i fly back home. So this new direct flight wont impact me, as i will continue to use SQ:D

[absent-minded]

what's the Boeing 73G??? is that the new plane being developed by Boeing? it's done already??? good news for civil aviation in the Philippines though... this will luckily lead to a greater influx of tourists, especially from Indonesia....

[David-80]

Boeing 73G is 737-700/800 the one with winglet on it. :)

GreyX, yeah i also use SQ before, sometimes i use Qantas and australian airlines to indonesia. :)

Yup, it will increase Indonesian tourist and also Filipino tourist coming to indonesia. Again its good news.

[ryanr]

When did Garuda buy 737-700/800s? How many did they buy?

[David-80]

Grey, Garuda Ordered 18 73G back in 1999 along with Order for 6 B777-200ER, B777 expected to arrive in January 2006, while 73G on october 2004.

heres the info

http://active.boeing.com/commercial/orders/displaystandardreport.cfm?optReportType=Order&cboStartMonth=04&cboStartYear=2004&cboEndMonth=04&cboEndYear=2004&optDateRange=All&optCustInfo=Customer&cboCustomerName=GIA&cboCountryName=&cboRegionName=&optModelInfo=CurrentModels&cboCurrentModelName=AllModels&cboAllModelName=&cboAllMinorModelName=&optSort=Customer&ViewReportF=View+Report

cheers

[ryanr]

Thats great!! Garuda really needs to replace its old MDs. And its old 737s. Nice to see that Garuda is expanding its fleet.:okay:

[SunKing]

RBA Goes Into Code-Share Deal With Philippine Airlines

Manila (Dow Jones) - Philippine Airlines Inc. (PAL), the country's flag carrier, Friday said it has begun code-share services with Royal Brunei Airlines for the Manila-Bandar Seri Begawan route.

Royal Brunei will be the operating carrier under the arrangement, which allows Philippine Airlines to offer seats on Royal Brunei's flights to the two southeast Asian capitals.

Royal Brunei flies five times weekly to Manila.

The arrangement will give Philippine Airlines a presence in Brunei, albeit indirectly, for the first time since June 1998 when the Manila airlines scaled back its operations.

The flights are operated using Royal Brunei's Boeing 767 wide-body aircraft.

Royal Brunei is Philippine Airlines' 9th international code-share partner. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

[ryanr]

Nice...

PAL seems to have a lot of codeshare flights... Nearly all its mid-east routes are code share and its one and only flight to Europe is codeshare, handled by KLM.

[renell]

Nice...

PAL seems to have a lot of codeshare flights... Nearly all its mid-east routes are code share and its one and only flight to Europe is codeshare, handled by KLM.

yeah, PAL has numerous code-share flights, most of them to other parts of Asia or in Europe or Africa. but it's China, Japan, US flights are flown by them

[Skyblade]

Yeah PAL has to rely on their codeshares to get the cities that their metal can't fly to until more aircraft is acquired since the entire fleet itself is utilized heavily throughout the route network of PAL.The codeshare with Air Philippines seemed to do a good job on freeing up more aircraft for regional routes but I'm guessing that we'll be seeing them fly to Europe once they get more aircraft (with the range) into the fleet.

[SunKing]

The aircraft PAL has are too few, if one goes in for unscheduled maintenance or gets stuck somewhere, most of the time PAL just cancels the flight. But hey, if it's an overnight layover they billet the passengers at the Century Park!

[Skyblade]

Indeed, spares are pretty much nonexistant in the fleet...man if PAL can get some more planes, hopefully a few more 747-400s or A340s...

[amras]

I agree. I'm quite surprised when I learned that PAL only has 30 planes in its fleet.

[ryanr]

I agree. PAL is really lacking airplanes. They dont have back-ups so their flights get delayed or cancelled easily. I'm hoping they buy more 747s, A340s, A330s and maybe 777s.

Our flight from Cebu was a 747 and as soon as we touched down at NAIA 2, they had to prepare it quickly for a LA bound flight. More planes will lighten up their schedules and relieve some stress.

[SunKing]

I doubt if they need the 777s right now. Their longest routes, the ones serving North American cities, can be serviced by the 747s and the A340s. If they restart the European routes, the 777ERs or even the newer LRs might be quite useful especially since the LRs exclusively use GE engines. Personally though, I like the 777s over the A340s.

[Skyblade]

Indeed with another aircraft in its class (A340) already in the fleet, might as well save the money and training by buying a similar, if not, exact type. But the 777s would look nice with PAL's c/s...:colgate:

[ryanr]

PAL used to fly to europe with 747s. So they might either aquire more 747s or A340s when they return to europe. Personally, i think 777 planes are the best, so i wish they get them...:D And if they are to get more planes, i want them brand new:D

[SunKing]

Yeah, they used the Boeing 747-200s extensively on the European routes along with the occasional DC-10. In the mid-90s, the 747s and the DC-10s were gradually phased out of the European routes with the arrival of the new A340s. On another note, I think they should start changing the Eurowhite scheme on the fuselage of the planes, I think it's too boring and dull. I love the tail liveries though.

[David-80]

Just quick question to aviation guys, why the registration number on PAL A330/340 are still F-number which means france registration, any plan to change the registration to RP-*** in the future or soon?

cheers

[renell]

PAL used to fly to europe with 747s. So they might either aquire more 747s or A340s when they return to europe. Personally, i think 777 planes are the best, so i wish they get them...:D And if they are to get more planes, i want them brand new:D


if you want a long-range plane, get the 747, especially if PAL wants to fit the most amount of passengers in a flight.

[ryanr]

but the 747 isnt as efficient for the number of passengers they can carry. A340 and 777 are much more efficient and can still carry quite a lot of passengers. PAL is in cost-saving mode so they might send A340s for the Europe routes.

[SunKing]

PR's 747s have a range of 7259nm. If PR were to buy 777s, I'd bet it would be the -200/ER so it would have a range of 7330nm, but if they buy the 200/LRs, it would have a range of 8865nm. The 777s have a passenger capacity of about 305 passengers. PR's 747s carry 398 passengers. Their A340s have a range of ~7300nm, but less cargo and passenger capacity. The A340s are just right for the European routes, they have just the right range and capacity, that's why these planes were ordered in the first place.

[ryanr]

I'd take the 777LRs hehehe...but A340s are fine.

[renell]

A340's most probably. they'll probably just use one of the ones they already have.. i just dont see them buying new planes soon, or going to europe. i did some research, DFA was in talks with the US for PAL to get more flights to stateside.

[ewh1]

SINGAPORE, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Philippine Airlines Inc (PAL) is planning to lease 13 planes to replace its narrow-bodied aircraft in the next two to three years, the firm's president said on Monday.

"We are re-fleeting our narrow-bodied aircraft," Avelino Zapanta, who is also chief operating officer, told Reuters on the sidelines of an aviation conference in the city state.

The flag carrier, which has 13 narrow-bodied planes in a fleet of 30, will make a decision before the end of the year, Zapanta said.

"We are now determining the type of aircraft that we will use as a replacement for the narrow-bodied aircraft. It's a choice between (Airbus) A320s and the new generation (Boeing) B737. Most will be on operating leases," said Zapanta.

Asia is expected to lead the growth in the aircraft leasing market this year due to the emergence of low-cost carriers, Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise chief executive Robert Martin said.

Rebounding passenger traffic earned PAL about one billion pesos ($18 million) in December and January, putting it on track to break even for the full year, Zapanta said.

"We lost 1.6 billion pesos in April-to-November. It was worrisome except that December and January proved to be good months. Passengers are hankering to travel," Zapanta added.

"We have two months left to recover about 590 million pesos, to break even or be positive. I think it can be done," he said. The unlisted flag carrier's financial year runs to March.

Zapanta said in December and January, Philippines Airlines, recovered about two-thirds of the 1.6 billion pesos in losses it incurred in the April-to-November period, when the deadly SARS outbreak and a rise in fuel prices hit the carrier.

He said the bird flu virus that has hit Asia was unlikely to affect demand for travel. "I think the attitude of the traveller now is that bird flu or no bird flu, they will just go and travel."

The airline originally targeted a profit of 816 million pesos this year, up from 295 million pesos in the previous year before the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) hit travel.

PAL is controlled by local business tycoon Lucio Tan and his companies. The government holds a four percent stake.

The airline was on the brink of liquidation in 1999 after a series of labour crises, but is now revamping its operations to settle large outstanding debts.

PAL's current debt is less than $1.5 billion, down from $2.3 billion in 1999, Zapanta said. ($1=S$1.6970=56.23 pesos)

Copyright 2004, Reuters News Service

[Skyblade]

A340's most probably. they'll probably just use one of the ones they already have.. i just dont see them buying new planes soon, or going to europe. i did some research, DFA was in talks with the US for PAL to get more flights to stateside.
Last I heard the only new aircraft I'm hearing is something to replace the narrowbody domestic fleet with either new A320s or the 737NG within two to three years (according to this article. (http://www.forbes.com/business/newswire/2004/02/23/rtr1271283.html)), that and the acquisition of more 744s. An A340-500 would look sweet in the PAL livery with those big engines..:D

I would imagine seeing PAL flying to San Diego as an extension of flights 102/103 and 112/113. :D

EDIT: Nevermind Eric beated me to it. :P

[renell]

so are they bothballing the ones they're replacing? give it to PAF? hahahaha..

[Skyblade]

Bwahahaha that is imaginable, I mean those generals that suck the funds out of the of the AFP modernization program need some nice VIP transports or maybe PAF can use them as attack aircraft.....Imagine a A320 with the PAL livery in a bombing run over MILF positions...XD

[renell]

i dont think there's even funds for the generals to suck out in the first place. :D

[Skyblade]

i dont think there's even funds for the generals to suck out in the first place. :D
Point taken. :)

[ryanr]

but still, while those military generals drive around with their Mercedez-Benz, their soldiers are out in the jungles with little to live on. I saw a presentation on the life of a soldier and they get paid really poorly, and they only have two sets of uniforms...:no:

How are our F-5s doing? Still in good shape? Enough to defend our country? (:lol: )
A few years ago, PAF really wanted to acquire F-18s...

[SunKing]

The AFP was already testing the F/A-18s in China Lake back in 1996, Boeing was almost sure that they would get a Philippine order. Back then, the government was also completing the purchase of F-16s...

[ryanr]

but what happened??

[SunKing]

The F-16s which were to be purchased were of earlier production blocks and as the deal was being finalized, a Senator said that if we were to purchase aircraft, they might as well be the latest models, but by the time the AFP was ready to purchase the aircraft, the Asian Financial Crisis had already struck.

[ryanr]

:( too bad...so if it wasnt for the crisis, PAF would be flying F-16s by now... How many were they going to buy?

During Balikatan (is this right?) the americans brought some F/A-18s to Clark and some Filipino pilots were able to pilot them. After that, they were pleading for the govt to purchase some of them:D:D

[SunKing]

The Filipino pilots were agape at those planes. When the Americans were still in the Philippines, everything--from the planes to the soldiers' boots--was paid for by the Americans.

[Skyblade]

What I'd do to see a Hornet in PAF colors...or at least a Falcon.....:(

[SunKing]

How about F-16s in Blue Diamonds colors? It might just have been PAF pride but their website says that the Blue Diamonds took the thunder away from the USAF Thunderbirds in a 1950s show.

[SunKing]

High oil prices send PAL back in the red

The high cost of fuel prices has put a toll on the financial performance of flag-carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) after it reportedly registered a P500-million net loss in its 2003 fiscal year ending-March.

PAL, was supposedly to have booked a profit of P1 billion in the same period as against the previous year’s P295-million net profit.

However, according to a source, the airline slipped back into the red during the period. “Gasoline and fuel prices in the world market jacked up PAL’s cost,” the source said.

PAL, however, refused to confirm nor deny that it posted a net loss when asked to comment last Friday.

PAL president Avelino Zapanta had said the airline expected to post P1 billion in net profit as the airline industry was now recovering from the scare of the deadly severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and terrorists attacks.

“Barring any more problems in the coming fiscal year and given the favorable environment for travel, we could post a least P1 billion in net income next fiscal year. People are hungry to travel after being denied the pleasure when the SARS scare was prevalent. We think the coming fiscal year would be favorable,” Zapanta earlier said.

PAL, he said, felt the full impact of the SARS scare from April to November 2003 when the company incurred losses of P1.6 billion.

Now, PAL is suffering from the enormous fuel cost as prices of aviation fuel almost doubled from last year. The May average to date stands at $46.03 per barrel from $28.24 per barrel last year. As of May 13, it costs $46.87 per barrel.

PAL’s debt had been reduced to $1.3 billion from $2.3 billion when it restructured payments and went into a 10-year financial rehabilitation in 1999. PAL is now in its sixth year of rehabilitation.

The Lucio Tan Group controls 89 percent of PAL, while his three Hong Kong companies -- Topwell Enterprises, Maxwell Holdings and Richmark Holdings -- hold a cumulative 35.15-percent stake.

The government is left with only 4.26 percent, employees with 2.71 percent and the remaining 4.19 percent is held by private investors also associated with Tan.

But according to the International Air Transport Association, the industry has started to recover during the first quarter of this year after posting an almost double-digit increase in passenger and cargo traffic based on figures culled by the 280-member association.

“The industry is on track to outperform our forecast of 6.9-percent growth in passenger volumes over 2003 levels. More importantly, the industry is showing clear signs of its ability to match capacity to demand,” the association said.

The growth in passenger traffic meant that people were no longer afraid to fly compared to 2001 after the terrorist attack followed by the US-Iraq war and the spread of the SARS last year.

In March alone, the association reported a 13.3-percent increase in the number of passengers traveling and an 8-percent hike in the volume of cargo transported. L. Lectura

[Skyblade]

Good to hear a passenger increase in PAL and that its debt is now shrinking.

I dunno, it would be nice to see a PAL cargo division with fully dedicated aircraft. :D

[SunKing]

Aircraft with "Philippines Cargo" on the fuselage would be cool. We could dream couldn't we? :D

[ryanr]

Oh, man...Its back in the red. What does PAL need to do to become very profitable like its 70s, early 80s and early-mid 90s life?? Back then they flew to many destinations such as Athens, Frankfurt, Milan, Zurich, Newark and were planning on flying to Johannesberg, SA.

Yeah, it would be cool if PAL had Cargo planes....but that will take a while, they would first have to establish their passenger name.

[renell]

The Filipino pilots were agape at those planes. When the Americans were still in the Philippines, everything--from the planes to the soldiers' boots--was paid for by the Americans.


over-realiance in American equipment for the first 50 years, then suddenly losing it, is a big shock for the AFP. suddenly it had to rely on funding, which is very little or is not there at all, from the gov't.

new fighter planes? i wish too:(

[SunKing]

The Americans were also angered by the AFP's move to get Italian-made planes and when it expressed interest over French and Israeli fighter planes.

[Skyblade]

Aircraft with "Philippines Cargo" on the fuselage would be cool. We could dream couldn't we? :D
Indeed. :D

Just to add one more thing, there was the case when the Americans could not allow the Philippines to purchase F-5E/Fs from Switzerland which were with low hours and going at a good price. The reason why was to encourage the RP to purchase F-16s... :wallbash:

[SunKing]

Quite a big move here by PR:

Philippine Airlines to switch to electronic ticketing
Posted: 3:12 PM | May 20, 2004

Agence France-Presse

PHILIPPINE Airlines said Thursday it would do away with paper tickets and shift to an electronic ticketing system that allows passengers to book and pay for flights by telephone or through the Internet.

The service was introduced on May 1 on domestic flights between Manila and the central city of Cebu and would be expanded "to cover all PAL destinations in the short term," a company statement said.

"This is a major step towards building a comprehensive electronic commerce system in the airline -- a strategic investment that we expect will yield long-term benefits," said the airline's president, Avelino Zapanta.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
19 May 2004
PAL launches e-ticketing service

Philippine Airlines has started offering its passengers an electronic ticketing facility that allows them to book and pay for flight seats by telephone or through the Internet -- a major convenience for customers, who do not need to leave their home or workplace to accomplish these tasks.

The service, introduced last May 1, is initially available for flights between Manila and Cebu, but will be expanded to cover all PAL destinations in the short term. It is part of the flag carrier's strategy to shift to electronic solutions for its administrative and commercial processes.

The new facility does away with paper tickets. Instead, the passenger is issued an electronic ticket (or e-ticket) -- a "virtual ticket" that is stored in PAL's computer system -- thus eliminating the need for the physical document.

The passenger avails of e-ticketing through either of two ways. He can call PAL Reservations at (02) 855-8888 in Manila or (032) 340-0191 in Cebu and book his flight through the agent. He then pays by relaying his credit card information over the phone.

Or the passenger can visit the PAL website www.philippineairlines.com and click "Book and Buy." The system then guides him through the booking and payment process. The latter is likewise by credit card.

For both methods, as proof that the transaction has been successfully completed, the passenger receives, via e-mail or fax, an "Itinerary/Receipt" containing his flight and payment details. Upon check-in at the airport, the passenger simply presents this document, along with valid identification, to obtain his boarding pass.

Lost Itinerary/Receipts can easily be replaced for free at any PAL ticket office, unlike air tickets, which require a lengthy, tedious process and incur a penalty when misplaced.

Members of Mabuhay Miles, PAL's frequent flyer program, continue to enjoy the same mileage accumulation privileges when traveling on e-tickets.

The introduction of e-ticketing represents another thrust by the flag carrier to tap into the booming travel market in cyberspace.

It is also one more step in building a comprehensive electronic commerce system in the airline -- a strategic investment PAL expects will yield long-term benefits.

[mhe-ann]

Electronic ticketing is a big advantage. :okay:

[Skyblade]

Good to hear that PAL is following what other airlines are currently doing. :D

[renell]

it's a good idea, but it must be combined with a secure electric supply in Terminal 2...

[Skyblade]

it's a good idea, but it must be combined with a secure electric supply in Terminal 2...
True, it would be a disaster if there was another one of them brownouts or even a quick one... :runaway:

[SKYLINEPIGEON]

Independent airline Cebu Pacific Air is to spend 300 million US dollars on 14 new aircraft as part of a major expansion programme.

The airline's vice-president for corporate planning and external affairs, Peggy Perez-Vera, confirmed the expansion plans Wednesday in a telephone interview with AFP.

She said Cebu Pacific Air was currently looking at either the 125-seat Boeing 717-200 or the 134-seat Airbus A319.

"We are leaning more towards one of them but it would be unfair to say whether it is Boeing or Airbus at this point in time," she said.

The airline intends to phase out its fleet of 12 DC9 aircraft which are already 25 years old.

The new aircraft would boost the airline's capacity by 20 percent and it is hoped to increase domestic frequencies, Perez-Vera said.

Cebu Pacific flies to 14 destinations within the Philippines and operates international services to Hong Kong, Seoul and Guangzhou.

The airline currently uses four Boeing-757s on its international routes.

It began operations in March 1996 as a no-frills domestic airline.

[ryanr]

Sweet...Cebu Pacific is a great airline, their service is excellent and their flights are always on time or even early. The only draw back is their very old fleet. Good thing they will replace them with brand new airplanes.:okay:

btw, where is Cebu Pacific's main home? Manila or Cebu?:D that might be a dumb question...

[Skyblade]

There's a thread going on in A.net that can be found here. (http://www.airliners.net/discussions/general_aviation/read.main/1582406/)

As I said in that thread, I hope to see 5J get the 717 but I love the A319 as well. :D

[SKYLINEPIGEON]

how much does a brand new b717 and a319 around 50musd, so they be getting less than 10 brand new regional planes

[renell]

i think Cebu Pacific is based in Mactan. its int'l flights don't fly to Manila, or else it'd be using NAIA1, but it only uses the domestic terminal. that's my guess

[kiretoce]

You're right, Cebu Pacific is home-based in CEB but their international flights originate in MNL. I don't know why that is but that's what my friend says, he's an FA for the airline. Word is that Cebu Pacific will be starting their fleet expansion soon with newer planes and add more destinations, mainly to mainland China because of the lucrative potential market of tourists from there. Travel restrictions are easing up in China.

[ryanr]

So dont they need to use the international terminal? Does Cebu Pacific fly from NAIA 1 for its international routes?

[Skyblade]

Its official, 5J is going for the 717. No press releases yet but one of my compadres in PFSG came out of the boardroom last Friday with the results. I'm also told not to share this to A.net and leave the members to guess. :D

And yes 5J does use T1 for its international routes.

[absent-minded]

cool... are they gonna be bought or leased? are their current DC-9s owned? if, according to skylinepigeon, a B717/A319 costs around $50M, then they could only get 6, unless they're leasing. they could also sell the DC-9's if they are owned, right?

[kiretoce]

Aside from PAL and Cebu Pacific, are there any other Philippine carriers flying overseas, even if it's only chartered flights? And is Air Philippines PAL's domestic arm, or is it a whole different airline?

[SKYLINEPIGEON]

froms the ranking of the world top 200 airliners, pal ranked 52 and cebu pacific at 197

[SKYLINEPIGEON]

i like it when i see cebu pacific 757 touching down right after pal a-300 in davao international airport, they usually arrive one after the other in the afternoon flights

[renell]

so Cebu Pacific doesn't fly int'l flights to Mactan? direct flights from Cebu to China would be good, since i don't think PAL runs those.

[absent-minded]

@skylinepigeon - have you been inside the new Davao airport? is it any good? it looks great in the pictures...

btw, how many B757s does 5J have? I thought it only had 12 DC-9s??

[David-80]

Great news for 5J, i knew they gonna pick 717...airbus is way heavier and usually have much complicated problem when it comes to contract deal/transaction...for example AWair Indonesia, now they are replacing their airbus fleet and restart their services soon with Boeing 737-400s instead.

Again, good news.. GO 5J !

cheers

[Skyblade]

so Cebu Pacific doesn't fly int'l flights to Mactan? direct flights from Cebu to China would be good, since i don't think PAL runs those.
Yes it would be good, especially for attracting tourists to Mactan.

I'll find out if 5J is going to lease or buy these birds but I have a feeling they're going to be leased.

And last time I checked, Cebu Pacific has 3 757s in the fleet.

[JudeD]

I really prefer riding Boeing's 7x7s compared to the Airbuses. For some reason, I always get severe inner-ear pain in the Airbuses (particularly the larger ones) especially when about to land. It makes flying a really excruciating experience for me. This doesn't happen as often or the pain isn't as bad in the Boeings. I think maybe the Boeings have a better cabin pressurization system. My ears are really sensitive to air pressure.

[absent-minded]

yeah... I would have to agree. I took an A300, I think, on Thai's Phuket-BKK flight and the entire flight, the engines were just roaring from outside. I used to think Airbus planes were much quiter and roomier (from inside) when I was taking PAL. maybe the newer models are. I don't like the squeaky cabins of Boeing though - makes you think the overhead compartments are just gonna fall apart during take off - and the flappy wings during landing or turbulence. haha...! but the B777 is awesome!! seemlingly much better build quality and pretty high-ceilinged cabins...

[SunKing]

The first aircraft I rode on was the Lockheed L1011 when it was still used by Cathay Pacific, I remember that aircraft was quiet, it should be if it's gonna be called 'Whisperliner.' All-in-all, I like Boeing aircraft better, but I'm partial to the 2x4x2 seating on Airbus A330s/A340s in Economy.

[SKYLINEPIGEON]

yeah... I would have to agree. I took an A300, I think, on Thai's Phuket-BKK flight and the entire flight, the engines were just roaring from outside. I used to think Airbus planes were much quiter and roomier (from inside) when I was taking PAL. maybe the newer models are. I don't like the squeaky cabins of Boeing though - makes you think the overhead compartments are just gonna fall apart during take off - and the flappy wings during landing or turbulence. haha...! but the B777 is awesome!! seemlingly much better build quality and pretty high-ceilinged cabins...

i thought the overhead compartments of b-777 are closed automatically by electronic system, we pax use to close it ourselves by our hand

[SKYLINEPIGEON]

@skylinepigeon - have you been inside the new Davao airport? is it any good? it looks great in the pictures...

btw, how many B757s does 5J have? I thought it only had 12 DC-9s??

no ive not been to the new davao airport which opened last nov 2003 , cebu pacific i think has four 757s

[Skyblade]

Four 757s? Sounds like progress to me! :D

[kiretoce]

This just in.... I wonder if this is the next step for PAL joining OneWorld, the airline alliance with American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, etc.?
________________________________________________________________________

2 June 2004
PAL expands e-ticketing to Davao, Zamboanga and Puerto Princesa


Philippine Airlines is expanding its newly implemented electronic ticketing service to cover three more domestic destinations this month before moving on to the international sector in the second half of the year as the flag carrier ramps up the pace of its automation thrust.

On June 1, PAL started offering e-tickets on flights between Manila and Davao, and also between Manila and Zamboanga. On June 7, they will be available on flights between Manila and Puerto Princesa.

By September, PAL will introduce e-ticketing on flights to Los Angeles and San Francisco. Other trans-Pacific destinations will follow shortly after.

In December, a planned electronic interline system with American Airlines is projected to come on stream, in which either carrier can issue e-tickets on the other’s flights.

If successfully carried out, this will make American, the world’s largest carrier, PAL’s first partner airline in e-ticketing. The two have long had an interline arrangement, albeit in paper tickets.

PAL launched e-ticketing last May 1 on flights between Manila and Cebu. The facility enables passengers to book and pay for flight seats by telephone or through the Internet. The transaction is recorded as a computer entry, obviating the need for paper documents.

Still, the service is being offered alongside the conventional tickets while the market adjusts to the new procedure.

The advent of e-ticketing affords PAL customers the convenience of arranging and finalizing their flight plans without leaving home or office.

E-tickets may be purchased by calling PAL Reservations at (02) 855-8888 in Manila or (032) 340-0191 in Cebu, or by visiting www.philippineairlines.com.

[Skyblade]

Hmm sounds good to hear PAL partnering with another airline on e-ticketing....let alone even American. PAL joining OneWorld would be cool but wouldn't there be some conflict with CX? (ala Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways with Star Alliance)

[absent-minded]

sounds good... I was just wondering why PAL hasn't joined one of these airline alliances... hopefully, the interline partnership with AA will bring in more passengers (to both airlines). it should be good for people who want to go into other parts of the US that PAL doesn't service...

[kiretoce]

Hmm sounds good to hear PAL partnering with another airline on e-ticketing....let alone even American. PAL joining OneWorld would be cool but wouldn't there be some conflict with CX? (ala Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways with Star Alliance)

Star Alliance has four Asian carriers (Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, Asiana Airlines, and All-Nippon Airlines) and they all seem to work fine with each other. In the onset, SQ and TG didn't want to team-up because they're major rivals in Asia. I guess PAL joining OneWorld isn't that bad, plus CX is more prominent anyway, PAL can play "second fiddle" and be a feeder (regional) airline to CX's Hong Kong hub. So far, the only other Asian carrier in an alliance is Korean Air with Sky Team (headed by Delta Airlines, Air France, and Alitalia). There are talks that Malaysia Airlines is about to join an alliance soon, but hasn't hinted on which one yet. That leaves carriers like Japan Airlines, China Airlines, Air China, Vietnam Airlines and Garuda Indonesia as "stand alones" for now.

[ryanr]

I really prefer Star Alliance over the other partnerships. But if PAL can get into OneWorld, that would be great. OneWorld is better than SkyTeam, imo.

[renell]

imo alliances can come later. get those flights back to Europe:D improving economy class service should also do the OFW's good.

[ryanr]

Well if an alliance is willing to take PAL right now, then why not??:D I'm sure they will fly to Europe soon. Dont worry renell, PAL will fly to you again:lol:

And YES! They should improve economy class. Its really cramped imo.

[renell]

wouldn't there be negotiations before something like this happens? so far, i haven't read anything suggesting this

[kiretoce]

Well if an alliance is willing to take PAL right now, then why not??:D I'm sure they will fly to Europe soon. Dont worry renell, PAL will fly to you again:lol:

And YES! They should improve economy class. Its really cramped imo.

Here's an article from two months ago....
_________________________________________________________________

PAL working on resumption of flights to India, Europe
Posted: 0:35 AM | Apr. 12, 2004
Clarissa S. Batino
Inquirer News Service


TAIPAN Lucio Tan is pushing for the resumption of Philippine Airlines' flights to India and Europe, particularly Italy, before 2006, according to PAL president and chief operating officer Avelino Zapanta.

Zapanta said Tan, chairman and chief executive officer of the country's flag carrier, had given the airline two years to work on this.

But before the flag carrier can resume flights to India and Europe, the Philippines needed to forge an air agreement with New Delhi and the different European countries.

PAL, Asia's oldest airline, stopped flying to India as early as 1954 when then president Ramon Magsaysay issued a policy to stop foreign flights in favor of a rural development program.

Services to Europe were stopped in 1998 at the height of a stand-off between the airline's management and flight and ground crew.

After years of absence, he said PAL was planning to return to these two destinations.

Civil Aeronautics Board executive director Tomas Manalac said India had indicated willingness to hold air talks with the country. India has already drafted an air deal proposal but the Philippines had yet to respond to it, he said.

According to Zapanta, PAL wanted to take advantage of the growing tourism and information technology industries in India. The flag carrier also wanted to cash in on the increasing deployment of Filipino overseas workers to Europe, particularly in Italy.

"PAL began flying to India in 1946, particularly to New Delhi and Calcutta. PAL is the first international airline they saw there," he said.

The number of Indian tourists flying overseas was expected to jump to six million this year, up 30 percent from 2003.

[David-80]

There are talks that Malaysia Airlines is about to join an alliance soon, but hasn't hinted on which one yet. That leaves carriers like Japan Airlines, China Airlines, Air China, Vietnam Airlines and Garuda Indonesia as "stand alones" for now.

correction, Malaysia airlines is doing alliance with Garuda from last year and looking the possibility to officialy declare as a region alliance. No news yet on Malaysia will join oneworld, star alliance (i doubt about this) or sky team

cheers

[Skyblade]

Star Alliance has four Asian carriers (Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, Asiana Airlines, and All-Nippon Airlines) and they all seem to work fine with each other. In the onset, SQ and TG didn't want to team-up because they're major rivals in Asia. I guess PAL joining OneWorld isn't that bad, plus CX is more prominent anyway, PAL can play "second fiddle" and be a feeder (regional) airline to CX's Hong Kong hub. So far, the only other Asian carrier in an alliance is Korean Air with Sky Team (headed by Delta Airlines, Air France, and Alitalia). There are talks that Malaysia Airlines is about to join an alliance soon, but hasn't hinted on which one yet. That leaves carriers like Japan Airlines, China Airlines, Air China, Vietnam Airlines and Garuda Indonesia as "stand alones" for now.

Ok that seriously make's sense. Of course PAL can never compare to CX standards (forgot about that on my other post. :wallbash: ) but I guess this alliance will be more convinent for OFWs and Filipinos abroad as compared to transiting passengers since they can choose a better quality airline to fly (Cathay) while PR can be there for the convenience of Filipinos abroad. But if Northwest does join Skyteam, I would think Malaysia Airlines and Garuda would be better suited to that alliance.

[David-80]

I am really looking forward to regional alliance, like MAS, GIA, PAL and also vietnam airlines, it should be cool. So far only MAS and GIA, but if PAL and Vietnam airlines joined the alliance..thats should be profitable for each airlines, PAL can served codeshare with those airlines to N.America, MAS codedshare to european routes meanwhile Garuda will do the Australian routes and Vietnam will go for the japanese/chinese routes codeshare. :D

cheers

[Skyblade]

Indeed some sort of regional alliance between the carriers would be awesome. Make it to the quality of OneWorld and Star and it would make it look even better. :D PAL already has codeshares going with MH, GA, and VN so an alliance would be a bigger plus for passengers. Would really show one good example of SEA unity. :D

[kiretoce]

Ok that seriously make's sense. Of course PAL can never compare to CX standards (forgot about that on my other post. :wallbash: ) but I guess this alliance will be more convinent for OFWs and Filipinos abroad as compared to transiting passengers since they can choose a better quality airline to fly (Cathay) while PR can be there for the convenience of Filipinos abroad. But if Northwest does join Skyteam, I would think Malaysia Airlines and Garuda would be better suited to that alliance.

There's a possibility that NW may join SkyTeam due to the fact that KLM it's codeshare partner merged with Air France recently. This also affects Continental Airlines which codeshares with NW, and Cebu Pacific Air also codeshares with NW. That leaves PAL out of the equation, unless it wants to share with Cebu Pacific which I highly doubt it would, so that leaves OneWorld as the only logical choice (Star Alliance already have four Asian carriers, while OneWorld and SkyTeam have one Asian carrier each.).

[kiretoce]

Cebu Pacific news....

________________________________________________________________________

Influx of Chinese tourists to RP seen as Cebu Pacific launches flights to Xiamen


By LEONARDO Q. BELEN


XIAMEN CITY, China — To accommodate an increasing influx of tourists, particularly Chinese, to the Philippines, the construction of more tourism infrastructures should now be undertaken, Alan Lam, Cebu Pacific Air general manager for China, urged.


He said that there has been no new five-star hotels built in Metro Manila during the last several years. He added that new tourism facilities should be established or existing ones be renovated in tourists destinations in the Philippines.

The Cebu Pacific Air launched here recently its inaugural Manila-Xiamen flight. Earlier this year, it launched its Guandzhou (China)-Manila service route.

Lam said that about 80 percent of their Philippine-bound passengers are tourists who are attracted by Baguio City, Boracay and other beaches in the Philippines.

He also said that news on kidnappings, bombings and other terrorist acts have in the recent past slackened the influx of Chinese tourists to the Philippines.

The travel executive added that there is now an increasing number of Filipino professionals being employed here in Xiamen. Filipino musicians are also being hired by the five-star hotels here.

During the ceremonies here at the Xiamen International Airport marking the Manila-Xiamen inaugural flight of Cebu Pacific Air, Philippine Consul General Corazon Yap-Bahjin said that the service route would usher in a mutual development of tourism, business exposures and cultural and educational exchanges for both Xiamen and the Philippines.

Xiamen, with about two million population, is dubbed as "the gateway" to China. It is a well-landscaped booming city with medium and high-rise buildings with wide avenues and where shopping is fun and adventure for bargain prices.

Frederick D. Go, group manager for a real estate and retail, and who represented Cebu Pacific Air during the reception dinner, said: "We are optimistic that we will have as much future success in the region as we are enjoying in the domestic Philippine market. We have already served 11 million revenue passengers a month before our 8th birthday."

He also expressed optimism that the Manila-Xiamen route will bring about greater trade and tourism between the Philippines and Xiamen.

Go further said that "most of the Chinese-Filipinos are from the province of Fujian and many residents of Fujian have relatives in the Philippines.

Businessmen and tourists from other cities in China use Xiamen as a connection point to the Philippines.

Cebu Pacific Air, the second largest airline in the Philippines, has earlier already established international flights which include two flights daily between Manila and Hong Kong, six times a week flights serving Manila-Seoul, and chartered services between Laoag and Hong Kong, Davao and Korea, Subic and Guangzhou.

Consul General Corazon Yap-Bahjin of the Philippine consulate here, who spoke during the ceremonies, said that the Cebu Pacific flight to Xiamen will usher in a mutual development of tourism, business exposures and cultural and educational exchanges for both the Philippines and this city.

Xiamen, with about two million population, is dubbed as "the gateway" to China. It is a well-landscaped booming city with medium and high-rise modern buildings with wide avenues and where shopping is fun and adventure for bargain prices.

Frederick D. Go, group manager for real-estate and retail, and who represented Cebu Pacific, said: "We are optimistic that we will have as much future success in the region as we are enjoying in the domestic Philippine market. We have already served 11 million revenue passengers a month before our 8th birthday."

He also expressed optimism that the Manila-Xiamen route will bring about greater trade and tourism between the Philippines and this city.

Go further expressed that "most of the Filipino-Chinese are from the province of Fujian and many residents of Fujian have relatives in the Philippines."

Businessmen and tourists from other cities in China can use Xiamen as a connection point to the Philippines. Xiamen is only about two-and-a-half hour flight from Manila.

Cebu Pacific,the second largest airline in the Philippines, has already established international flights which include two flights daily between Manila and Hong Kong, six times a week flights from Manila-Seoul and vice-versa, and chartered services between Laoag and Hong Kong, Davao and Korea, Subic and Guangzhou.

[ewh1]

good news for clark
THE GOVERNMENT is considering a 250-million-dollar expansion and upgrade of the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in the Clark Special Economic Zone north of Manila in next three years to attract more investors, including aircraft maker Boeing Co., Inquirer sources said.

With the Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport mothballed indefinitely, the Clark airport is also the government's alternative site to support the requirements of Metro Manila.


A source in Clark International Airport Corp. said the government was holding exploratory talks with Boeing to convince the aircraft maker to consider Clark as a site for a maintenance and logistics hub it plans to establish in Southeast Asia.

More than 50 percent of the planes flying across the Asian region are Boeing planes, including those used by Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific Air and freight carriers Federal Express and United Parcel Services.

The source said the discussions with Boeing were very preliminary but the government was already planning to borrow money to finance an upgrading of the Macapagal airport, which will include building another runway to accommodate more aircraft and expanding the hangar to attract maintenance service companies.

The government plans to borrow initially 70 million dollars from multilateral lenders to finance the airport upgrade, the source said.

The airport has two parallel 3.2-kilometer runways that can accommodate large aircraft and a passenger terminal building that can serve 500 passengers an hour, or 1.5 million passengers a year.

"Clark has to have another runway," said another source. The airport has to expand to accommodate the requirements of potential locators, including Fedex."

Cargo carrier and logistics firm Fedex plans to transfer its regional facility to Clark once its newly extended contract with the Subic Bay Freeport expires in 2010. It has reserved about 50 hectares of land in Clark.

Before the government firms up the expansion plans, Clark airport authorities want to solicit interest from potential investors in a kind of pre-selling.

Also on the list of airport's likely locators is Lufthansa Technik, which has reserved more than 50 hectares of land in Clark, a former US military airbase. With INQ7.net

[kiretoce]

If you get The Learning Channel (TLC) on cable or satellite, there's a show on tonight at 10:00pm (EST) about the Airbus A380. How it was built and what are its expectations in the airline industry. Sounds like good viewing, since there's nothing "new" on TV with all the reruns for the summer.

[ewh1]

Yea im gonna see that tonight. I think its on at 8:00pm too plus the repeat of which you have posted at 10:00pm

[Skyblade]

Would be good to have Boeing (or even Airbus) open some sort of dedicated maintinence and/or logistics facility for Asia. More jobs=happy people. :D

I'll try to catch the A380 documentary tonight as well. :D

[kiretoce]

The Airbus A380 show last night on TLC was nice, although I wish they showed the finish product, that would have been cool! But from what I saw, that airplane is really gigantic! It would be so awesome to see it thundering down a runway during takeoffs or landings, or just parked at the gate in some airport.

[absent-minded]

imo alliances can come later. get those flights back to Europe:D improving economy class service should also do the OFW's good.

nd YES! They should improve economy class. Its really cramped imo.

huh??? hahaha... I like PAL's economy much, much better than Cathay! we took PAL for the first time in a few years yesterday and their economy cabin on the A320 (I think... MNL-YVR) was a lot roomier compared to CX's 747s... way more leg room! even with the seat infront tilted back and table pulled out, you'd still have to lean over past the armrests to eat. on cathay, the table would've been going over the armrests into your seat and over your lap already... the food was also so much better than you would usually get on Cathay's economy class. they served sea bass(!!!) that tasted practically as good as Makati Shangri-la's...! they should just get everyone personal TVs... I guess their business/first classes need more work to compare to CX than economy.

anyway, great news for DMIA! so they are in fact laying out the third runway. are the two old ones still in good shape? GMA spent a few million dollars on Clark sometime last year(?) already, right? were the runways rehabilitated then? what would beoing be doing at clark? hopefully, they do choose to move in there for whatever reason. that would get DMIA moving faster.but I guess it'lll take much more time before the new terminal comes along though....

[SunKing]

You probably mean their A340s. :)

[Skyblade]

Wow an A320 doing trans-Pacific ETOPs. I'd seriously love that though. :D But yeah it was most likely a A340-300.

[absent-minded]

woops...!! hahaha... A340s then....

[ryanr]

Yeah, the A340 economy class are quite good. But the other planes' economy class are really bad. Even the 747s.... They should get brand new planes or upgrade their current fleet.

[David-80]

I thought PAL operates A340-200 ? btw Cathay also have A340-300 and A340-600, so far their inflight ptv and services are pretty good.


cheers

[federal]

yeah. i think it's the A340 too :) pero i think they only have 1 or 2 of that eh. So when idle they put the A340 in their roster for MNL-LAX na pm flight or MNL-YVR. I always took pm flight of MNL-LAX before, for the main reason I prefer A3xx than PAL's old B747's due to more legroom and and better seat configuration on the economy class. (A340 2left, 4 middle, 2 right) (while B747, 3 crampy seats left, 4 middle, 3 crampy seats right)

Never tried the MNL-YVR absent-minded. Maybe i will in the future to see how it is. But I disagree with your sentiments that PAL is better than CX. Maybe sa route lang na yon nagamit yung A340, but try the PAL MNL-SIN route, God, they use old 737's or A330's if lucky. And by the way, the A340 of CX is awesome.

Since 2000, I opted never to ride PAL except on local routes. I recently a took CX MNL-HKG-KUL last month and I must say ok talaga ang CX. Was able to try their new B777 on the KUL-HKG leg. Very nice and comfty, but i hate the seat config. (3 left, 3 middle, 3 right). So what I did, I took the last row which was ( 2 left, 3 middle, 3 right ).... due to the tapered fuselage.

David-80 : the inflight entertainment programme : studio CX of Cathay is awesome... dami channels. kakamiss.

[renell]

they use 737's to Singapore? man.. SQ uses 777's, and i heard, 747's too sometimes...

[ryanr]

SQ uses 777s or A330s for their SG-MNL flights. I dont recall using a 747.

And PAL uses A330s, and maybe 737s. Thats ok, if passenger volume isnt heavy it is best they use smaller planes for efficiency.

[Skyblade]

I thought PAL operates A340-200 ? btw Cathay also have A340-300 and A340-600, so far their inflight ptv and services are pretty good.


cheers
They used to up to 1998 in which they were one of the types that was axed after PAL's fiasco. Last I heard of them is that they're operating with Aerolineas Argentinas.

I never tried the A343 yet but I'm hoping to fly one on the LAS-YVR sector of PR107. :D

[David-80]

David-80 : the inflight entertainment programme : studio CX of Cathay is awesome... dami channels. kakamiss.

Yeah ! I think studio CX is one of the best IFE.


they use 737's to Singapore? man.. SQ uses 777's, and i heard, 747's too sometimes...

PAL uses 737s because of the pax capacity and season demand, during peak session sometimes i saw PAL A330 at changi.

SkyBlade: Ah okay, I wonder why i saw PAL A332 on jetphotos before and it was June 2002 if im not recalled it wrong, lemme check it :D


cheers

[SunKing]

The A342s were given up way before 2002 and on their MNL-SIN/SIN-MNL flights, you'll be assured that at least one flight is flown by an A333, according to their timetable. But then again, it's PR.

[Skyblade]

Indeed anything can happen with these guys. There was even a couple sightings of PAL's A333s in LAX.. :eek:

EDIT: Of course with a expected stop in HNL...

[Skyblade]

I'm not sure if it was posted yet on this forum but I'll just do it anyways...

PAL Recovers, posts P1-B Profit in April and May

SINGAPORE -- Robust sales following an increased appetite for travel allowed Philippine Airlines (PAL) to book a net income of more than one billion pesos (around 18 million USD) in the April-May period, the first two months of its fiscal year, after a net loss of 661 million pesos (10.7 million USD) in the fiscal year ended March, a company official said.

PAL submitted a financial report to the Securities and Exchange Commission showing a net income of almost 600 million pesos in April and an "equally good" performance in May despite a continued increase in jet fuel prices, said the official, a member of the PAL board.


"Operating income is more than one billion pesos in April, which finance people in PAL say is the highest in the company's recent history," said the board member, declining identification.

The airline's load factor increased after it added flight schedules using its fleet of 30 aircraft, the official said. A nine--percent increase in capacity yielded a 15-percent increase in traffic, he added.

PAL hedged half of its fuel requirements before prices of aviation fuel escalated, the official said.

The increased sales in April and May reflected what appeared to be a firm recovery of the global airline industry, according to an official of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), an association of more than 270 airline companies worldwide that is holding its annual general meeting here this Tuesday. PAL is a member of the IATA.

Andrew Drysdale, IATA regional vice president for Asia-Pacific, said airline companies in the Philippines were poised to take advantage of the improving conditions for travel worldwide.

"I think there is strong growth in the Philippines' aviation industry in the first quarter and we hope the trend would be sustained. Significant growth in Asia is expected to come mostly from China and India where there is a huge population," Drysdale said.

PAL, 63 years old, is Asia's oldest airline. It nearly collapsed in 1998 as the 1997-98 Asian crisis struck its major markets in the region.

It shut down operations for two weeks in September 1998, sought government protection from creditor lawsuits, and eventually began a 10-year financial rehabilitation that will end in 2009.

In the fiscal year ended March, PAL said sales slumped in the April-November period because of a pneumonia scare and it suffered a net loss of 1.6 billion pesos.

In December-January, sales picked up and PAL brought the net loss down to 600 million pesos.

Higher operating expenses in February and March due to the escalating price of aviation fuel snagged what would have been a continued recovery in PAL's last two months of operations in the previous fiscal year.

PAL went back in the red during the past fiscal year after posting a net income of 300 million pesos for the period from April 2002 to March 2003.

The price of aviation fuel had almost doubled to 46.03 dollars a barrel in May from 28.24 dollars a year earlier.

The IATA said in April that the world aviation industry finally recovered in the January-March quarter, which it said was a sign that this year would mark the full recovery of air travel since it got hit badly by a series of events starting with the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States.

It said passenger and cargo traffic posted double-digit increases in the January-March quarter. With INQ7.net

[SunKing]

NAIA 2 can no longer
accommodate PAL patrons

By Jonathan M. Hicap, Correspondent

THE Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2 is no longer able to accommodate the passenger traffic of the flag carrier Philippine Airlines, and facilities need to be expanded, a company official told The Manila Times.

According to data supplied by the airline, PAL carried 5.5 million passengers through NAIA 2 for its fiscal year from April 2002 to March 2003. NAIA 2 can handle up to 7.5 million passengers, but the PAL official said passenger traffic is heavy, especially during summer and Christmas.

General Manager Edgardo Manda of the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) suggested that PAL shoulder the cost of expanding Terminal 2.

Manda also told The Times it is impossible to use the land occupied by the Nayong Pilipino, because that would require the tearing down of the Philippine Village Hotel. He said NAIA 2 was not designed for international flights.

The PAL official, on the other hand, said the airline uses NAIA 2 for its domestic and international flights because it is cost-efficient to house the two sites under one complex.

“It’s very convenient,” he said, explaining that using NAIA 2 for domestic and international flights is also based on the mandate under PAL’s 10-year rehabilitation plan that would end in 2009.

He said that when PAL used the Old Domestic Airport and NAIA 1, PAL planes had a hard time crossing from one terminal to the other because they had to be towed from the hangar for about 30 minutes.

“The more time [an aircraft] spends on the ground, the less revenue is generated,” he said.

The NAIA 2, built at a cost of P5.8 billion, began operations in August 1999 to accommodate local airlines. Except for PAL, other airlines like Cebu Pacific and Asian Spirit stayed at NAIA 1.

The PAL official said the airline has no exclusive agreement with the MIAA for the use of NAIA 2. He said the MIAA offered the terminal to other airlines but they declined.

[absent-minded]

how or where are they going to expand into? NAIA-2 does indeed seem a bit small for PAL's daily traffic, cause lines easily build up at check-in counters. I've heard the immigration and customs at arrivals are also too crowded. maybe they could merge NAIA-1 into it? that'd be sweet... stretch out the South Wing all the way to NAIA-1 to form some [ shape.... hehe...

[federal]

simply open NAIA3...... for crying out loud

[absent-minded]

NAIA-3 is just one sad, sad story that never should've happened. why does every "third" seemingly end up in such bad news? look at the MRT-3...

[SunKing]

Thursday June 24, 8:38 AM
PHILIPPINES PRESS:Airbus Eyes Philippine Refleeting Pacts

MANILA (Dow Jones)--France's Airbus (ABI.YY) said it hopes to win three-year refleeting programs of the two largest Philippine carriers set to start this year, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reports.

"We made a very competitive offer in terms of cost, reliability and passenger appeal," said Anthony Phillips, regional communications representative of Airbus.

He was referring to the bids to upgrade the fleets of Philippine Airlines Inc. (PAI.YY) and Cebu Air Inc., the airline unit of investment holding group JG Summit Holdings Inc. (JGS.PH).

Philippine Airlines is on an Airbus list of 28 companies that have committed to use the A320 aircraft in the future. The airline's fleet of 30 aircraft for local and overseas routes consists of Airbus and Boeing planes. Its leases on more than 10 of its aircraft are to expire starting this year.

Cebu Air said it would retire this year 12 DC-9 aircraft that are 25 to 27 years old and replace them with 14 units of the 125-seat Boeing 717-200s or 134-seat Airbus A319. It said it would spend about $300 million for refleeting.

Newspaper Web site: http://www.inq7.net

-By Manila Bureau, Dow Jones Newswires; (632) 885-0290; djn.manila@dowjones.com

[mhe-ann]

I wanna see the pics of all the airplanes you all mentioned here. :D

[Solblanc]

Is PAL finally going to acquire more A340's, then? If they're planning to fly to europe, they most certainly can't do it on their current fleet.

I'm glad that they're seriously considering airbus, though. I prefer airbus, because their planes are waaay prettier :D aside from that, they have nicer commonality, among other things.

*sigh* I hope to see the day when PAL flies nonstop to New York. SQ had a humungous ad in Time magazine, and I couldn't help but feel jealous.

[kiretoce]

More news from PAL....
________________________________________________________________________

21 June 2004
Know your PAL flight status via text


Philippine Airlines customers can now obtain the actual arrival and departure times of any PAL flight through the SMS or text messaging service of their cellular phones.

Initially available for Philippine-based Globe Telecom subscribers only, the facility enables them to access flight information within a five-day range – from two days before until two days after the current date.

Users can obtain the needed information by keying in the following message formats and sending these to 2333:
To check the actual departure or arrival time, text PAL [D or A] [date in MMDD format] [flight number].

For example, to get the actual time of arrival in Manila of flight PR103 from Los Angeles on June 25, the user should text PAL A 0625 PR103.


To check for the complete schedule of departures or arrivals between city pairs, text PAL [D or A] [date in MMDD format] [origin] [destination].

For example, to know the exact times of departure from Manila of all flights to Davao on June 23, the user should text PAL D 0623 MNL DVO.


Keying in the complete city name, “Manila” and “Davao,” is also acceptable. For city names with two words, remove the space between the words. Thus, Generalsantos instead of General Santos and Lasvegas in place of Las Vegas.

To obtain the city code, text PAL [city].

For example, to get the city code for Osaka, the user should text PAL Osaka. For San Francisco, it is PAL Sanfrancisco.

Users needing assistance may text PAL HELP. A flat rate of two pesos and fifty centavos (P2.50) per text message applies.

The new service is the latest convenience offered by the flag carrier for the benefit of its customers.

It follows the introduction last year of an online flight check facility that enables patrons to determine the status, departure and arrival times of any PAL flight via the airline’s website www.philippineairlines.com.

Last May 1, PAL launched electronic ticketing for flights between Manila and Cebu, and has since expanded the service to cover major domestic points. E-ticketing allows the passenger to book and pay for a flight seat by phone or through the Internet.

[Skyblade]

It's official, Cebu Pacific went for the A32X family. They're going to purchase 12 A319s and 3 A320s. The Airbuses would suit 5J well and I can't wait to see them in CP's colorscheme but I was hoping for them to get the 717. :(

[ryanr]

Sweet...thats great news!

[David-80]

Skyblade, what will happen with their 757s? good news for 5J, i dont feel really good when 5J was thinking about 717, finally they go with airbus, about time.

cheers

[SunKing]

I was also rooting for the B717 being more of a Boeing fan, but it's still good news nonetheless!

[absent-minded]

nice!! when will they get the planes? the old DC-12s were leased or owned?

[ewh1]

Between 2005 Till 2007. Every month Cebu Pacific Will get a New Plane

[David-80]

the old DC-12s were leased or owned?

You mean DC-9s? some of them are ex-Garuda, I dont know if they purchased directly from Garuda or some international agents.

cheers

[Skyblade]

Skyblade, what will happen with their 757s?

I'm sure they'll be sticking around for quite a while. They seem to be doing a good job with 5J and I'm sure the new Airbuses will do good as well in complimenting the 752s in domestic and international routes. :)

[David-80]

Its a little bit risky for 5J to use airbus A319/A320 IMO, hopefully they are doing quite well !

ps: does the A319/A320 also fit with IFE and PTV?

cheers

[kiretoce]

Manila seeks Airbus operations transfer from Singapore

MANILA - The Philippine government will provide incentives to Airbus Industrie if it transfers some of its maintenance operations in Singapore to the Philippines, Clark International Airport Corp president Adelberto Yap said on Sunday.

Manila is courting the European aircraft maker to set up a regional maintenance site for Asia at Clark, the former regional headquarters of the United States Air Force.

"Given that Airbus is launching a new wide-bodied, double-decker aircraft in the next three years, it is looking at sites where it could do some repair and maintenance work aside from Singapore," Mr Yap said.

He did not discuss the offer in detail.

Mr Yap said Clark's strategic location - less than 100 kilometres north of Manila - could be a plus factor.

It has two parallel, 3.2km runways which can accommodate large aircraft and a passenger terminal building which can serve 500 passengers an hour or 1.5 million a year.

Airbus is building the world's biggest commercial aircraft, dubbed the A380.

The double-decker plane will be launched in 2006 with Singapore Airlines as the launch customer. - AFP

[Skyblade]

ps: does the A319/A320 also fit with IFE and PTV?

I believe the A32X can be fitted but I dunno if 5J would opt for it.

[Skyblade]

PAL plane narrowly misses runway mishap
Posted: 6:42 AM (Manila Time) | Jun. 28, 2004
By Joe Galvez, Contributor
INQ7.net

A PHILIPPINE Air Lines Airbus A320 bound for Manila from Cagayan de Oro City narrowly missed a fatal mishap with two US Air Force C-130s slowly taxiing on the runway of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) at 5:15 p.m. (Manila time), Sunday.

PAL Flight 186, piloted by Capt. Daryl de Ocampo, was landing his aircraft after circling the airport six times when the NAIA air control tower alerted him of the two C-130's still on the runway.



De Ocampo immediately retracted the PAL plane's landing gears and put the plane on full throttle, averting what could have been a disastrous end to its 146 passengers and eight crewmembers.

"Ladies and gentleman, we have just been informed by air control that there are two U.S. military C-130 planes on the runway which they had not noticed," said De Ocampo over the intercom. "We have just re-ascended to make another final approach. Please bear with us."

To the relief of the passengers and crew, PAL Flight 186 landed safely at 5:40 p.m., after nearly 30 minutes of circling the airport.

[absent-minded]

whoa! close call...!! how close was he to touching down?? that would've been freaky... I remembered the China Airlines plane a few years ago when the co-pilot or something touched down and then for some reason pulled up again. then the whole thing just flipped over...

@skyblade - are you a pilot for US Airways? =)

[SunKing]

I guess that's in part due to the skill of PR pilots. Thank God it was able to land safely!

[absent-minded]

I guess that's in part due to the skill of PR pilots. Thank God it was able to land safely!

yup...!! PAL pilots are some of the world's ultimate best... this has actually been discussed a few pages back in this thread... haha...! smoothest landings as well...! hardly even felt... and they're all pinoys trained by PAL...

[pau_p1]

wow... yeah.. thank God they are well trained...

at least we haven't had any major airborne mishaps here in the runways unlike in another country where a descending Air France i think collided with another departing plane...

[David-80]

Its ATC fault i think, hows the visibility and forecast at that moment? because ADM Fargo from US pacific commander was in the Manila at that moment.


cheers

[Skyblade]

@skyblade - are you a pilot for US Airways? =)
In my wildest dreams maybe. :D

[ryanr]

yup...!! PAL pilots are some of the world's ultimate best... this has actually been discussed a few pages back in this thread... haha...! smoothest landings as well...! hardly even felt... and they're all pinoys trained by PAL...

I agree...On my arrival in Manila a few weeks ago, the approach was really rough because it was a cloudy day. But somehow, the PAL pilot landed the plane so smoothly that i didnt realise we had already landed...

[Taipei101]

I travelled Philipine Airlines to Bangkok, it was very good and the service was exceptional for the interpred traveller, it was 5 stars.

[absent-minded]

I agree...On my arrival in Manila a few weeks ago, the approach was really rough because it was a cloudy day. But somehow, the PAL pilot landed the plane so smoothly that i didnt realise we had already landed...

hahaha...! sweet! that's what my mom said about her flight to YVR as well...

I travelled Philipine Airlines to Bangkok, it was very good and the service was exceptional for the interpred traveller, it was 5 stars.

wow! we took Thai to BKK, so... too bad. but for me, PAL's economy is really good. just lacks PTVs...

[kiretoce]

Air Philippines sets flights to China
Posted: 8:08 PM | Jul. 04, 2004

Clarissa S. Batino
Inquirer News Service

printable version email a story write the editor feedback


AIR Philippines Corp., another airline controlled by taipan Lucio Tan, said it would mount chartered flights to China in its bid to expand regional operations.

Air Philippines said it piloted twice-weekly chartered flights to Guangzhou, China, last Friday in partnership with Hong Kong-based True Ease Travel Ltd.


The country's third-largest airline said it would soon fly to Chengdu, China, by the middle of the month. The carrier recently mounted flights to Kwangju, Korea.

"Using the new Boeing 737-200 aircraft with a 118 seating capacity, the flight will operate from the Centennial Terminal 2 and will service both passenger and cargo," it said.

Air Philippines' aggressive operations followed the renewal of its certificate of authority to operate from the Civil Aeronautics Board for another five years. The carrier's five-year permit from the CAB was to expire this month.

In its petition with the CAB, the Lucio Tan company said that it was running on a huge deficit and would need government approval so it could continue servicing its routes.

Sister firm Philippine Airlines also posted P661 million in losses in its previous fiscal year ending March 2004. But first two months of operations in the current fiscal year were promising, according to officials, as net profit reached almost P1 billion in April and May.

A year ago, Air Philippines was able to convince Congress to amend its 25-year franchise so it could enjoy the same tax privileges being enjoyed by PAL and Cebu Air Pacific.

Air Philippines is 70-percent owned by Tan while the the remaining 30 percent belongs to William Gatchalian and his Wellex Industries. The tobacco taipan acquired a majority stake in the airline in 1999.

The airline serves 18 domestic routes through more than 60 flights daily. It flies to Manila, Cebu, Iloilo, Cagayan de Oro, Zamboanga, General Santos, Bacolod, Cotabato and Baguio while also offering chartered services to local and nearby foreign destinations.

It operates a fleet of 10 Boeing 737s. It has a permit to fly to Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and the United States. It briefly flew to Indonesia and Brunei but eventually stopped because of losses. Its remaining active overseas destination is Hong Kong.

Last year, the two Tan-owned airlines made plans to merge and introduce a low-cost brand that would compete with the Gokongwei-owned Cebu Air Pacific.

The planned introduction of Fiesta Air, a low-budget brand of both PAL and Air Philippines, was meant to ensure the survival especially of the smaller airline firm amid last year's continuing slump in the aviation industry. But merger plans failed to materialize.

[kiretoce]

Northwest vows RP market leadership


By EDU H. LOPEZ


MINNEAPOLIS—Northwest Airlines would introduce more technology-related services such as electronic ticketing, self-service kiosks and innovations to maintain its leadership in the Philippine market.


E-ticketing is a platform that would allow Northwest to offer other enhanced services such as self-service check-in through kiosks and the Internet.

Roger Harris, managing director for the Pacific revenue management, said that the Philippines is an important market for Northwest.

The airline would be closely working with its partner airlines particularly Cebu Pacific in the Philippines in marketing and promotion.

In the medium term, Northwest would focus on its product improvements, airport terminal and facilities, and the introduction of new aircraft like the Airbus A330, said Harris.

He stressed that Northwest’s strategy is to partner with airlines to address the requirements of the difference markets worldwide.

Although the airline posted a net loss of $230 million in the first quarter of 2004, it has managed its operations by controlling non-fuel unit costs.

But Northwest’s challenge is to bring down its operating costs against the revenue it generates.

Northwest’s revenues in the first quarter of 2004 rose by 9.6 percent from $2.6 billion in 2003. Passenger revenue per available seat increased by 12.5 percent. Operating expenses increased by 0.4 percent during the quarter from $2.7 billion a year ago.

The Asia Pacific region contributes about 10 to 15 percent of the company’s total revenue worldwide.

Harris noted that the airline has not fully recovered in terms of revenues to the level before the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Northwest flies 14 times a week using the bigger Boeing 747-400 aircraft between Manila and the US via Japan.

Following the recent signing of an bilateral air agreement between the US and China, Northwest is set to add seven more flights from the existing 14 flights a week.

The airline has continued to build its network worldwide. It has opened a number of international and domestic markets such as the non-stop daily service between Tokyo and Portland, Oregon that would give its customers eight US-Japan gateways and four West Coast connections to Tokyo.

Northwest started new regular services to eight destinations from its WorldGateway at Detroit, 11 destinations from Minneapolis/St. Pual and seven cities from Memphis.

New cities were added to the airline’s network including Newburg in New York, Kitchener/Waterloo, Ontario in Canada and Asheville in North Carolina, all served from Detroit hub.

[kiretoce]

Wednesday, July 7, 2004

Aerospace Notebook: 717 left hanging as Philippine airline reportedly favors Airbus

By JAMES WALLACE
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

A report that Manila-based Cebu Air may favor Airbus for its first airplane order since it started doing business a decade ago would be a serious blow to The Boeing Co.'s slow-selling 717.

Boeing needs an airline -- more than one, actually -- to throw a lifeline to the 717 program, and Cebu, the second-biggest airline in the Philippines, has been weighing the 717 as a replacement for its fleet of old DC-9s.

But Danilo Mojica, Cebu's chief operating officer, was quoted by Bloomberg News Monday as saying the airline probably will choose Airbus over Boeing.

An announcement is expected within a couple of weeks.

Boeing has made a fresh offer to Cebu regarding the 717, according to a person familiar with the competition. It is not unheard of for an airline executive, during the heat of an order campaign, to publicly suggest through the media that the airline probably will go with one manufacturer to extract a better, last-minute offer from a rival manufacturer.

Cebu has said before that it is looking at the Airbus A319 as well as the 717. An order likely would be for about a dozen jets.

At current rates, a dozen planes would represent more than a year's production for the 717, which is assembled in Long Beach, Calif.

Developed by McDonnell Douglas as a DC-9 replacement, the 717 has suffered from poor sales. Of the 167 planes that have been ordered, Boeing had a backlog of only 37 left to build at the end of May.

Boeing's only 717 orders this year came from AirTran, the launch customer for the 717, when it was known as the MD-95. But AirTran is not expected to order more 717s, because it is acquiring the bigger Boeing 737 for newer routes.

[absent-minded]

what??? I thought they already went with airbus? hopefully, they'll stick to their original plans. I just want airbus plaens for some reason. hehe...

[Skyblade]

I thought they went with Airbus as well! Oy before you know it they'll want to revive the Fokker 100 production line... :nuts:

Anyways Air Philippines operating flights out of NAIA 2? That would be a sight when you have that 737-200 surrounded by a homologous batch of PAL a/c. :D

[renell]

kinda off topic but, anyone tried SIA's business class spacebeds? they are awesome in long haul flights, makes you feel like first class, in business class:D

[Skyblade]

kinda off topic but, anyone tried SIA's business class spacebeds? they are awesome in long haul flights, makes you feel like first class, in business class:D
I have an awful feeling that you got the chance to try em out. Those things look awesome and I'm hoping to try it out when I head back to the RP this December (unless I decide to go with CX). All I can say is you're one lucky guy. :D

[renell]

and i get to try it out again on the way to sydney :D i experienced it Frankfurt-Singapore, and will again Singapore-Sydney

[David-80]

Spacebeds is awesome, once tried it from Melbourne to Singapore, also SIA has many games to offer and not to mention the Movie on demand thing! :D

cheers

[SunKing]

All-female crew flies for Cebu Pacific
By Sandy Araneta
The Philippine Star 07/10/2004

http://www.philstar.com/philstar/main/20040710/images/sf.jpg
The women of Cebu Pacific Airlines are taxiing off the runway — and they have full control of their aircraft, from the cabin to the cockpit.

The local airline’s maiden flight with an all-female crew took off from Manila for Cebu at 1 p.m. yesterday, with Capt. Catherine Marie Castillo handling the plane’s controls.

Castillo, 34, hails from San Juan and is a graduate of the University of the Philippines (UP), where she earned a bachelor of science degree in business administration.

She first worked for her uncle’s export firm as an administrative and finance officer in 1991.

A year later, she decided to become a pilot and enrolled atthe Philippine Airlines (PAL) Aviation School.

Cebu Pacific’s first woman-powered flight carried 80 passengers to Cebu in an 118-seater DC-9. Completing the all-female crew were three flight attendants and a flight engineer.

"I never really planned on being a pilot," said Castillo, who is known to friends and family by her nickname, Brooke. "But the first time I flew a plane, it was blissful."

When she was still a college undergraduate, Castillo said, she dreamed of becoming a businesswoman. She also said she wanted to become part of an airline’s cabin crew because she loves to travel.

After she found out that her friends had also applied for formal pilot training and having realized that flying was a challenging vocation, she applied and was accepted at the PAL flying school.

Castillo recalled that a friend had said one of their high school classmates was also the first Asian female pilot.

"It was sort of accidental," she said. "I accompanied a (female) friend who wanted to become a pilot." Castillo’s friend did not make the cut for lack of height because she was only five feet and three inches tall when the minimum height for pilots is five feet and four inches.

Castillo, who stands five-foot seven, has logged a total of 4,000 flight hours.

She was first employed at Cebu Pacific as first officer of a DC-9 from 2002 to this month, when she was promoted to the rank of captain.

She also worked as second officer of PAL’s flagship B747-400 from 1995 to 1997 and served as a relief officer on long-haul transpacific flights. She has also been tasked with accomplishing flight computation and records.

Castillo has passed the equipment qualification certificate course at the EVA Air and Malaysian Air.

According to Castillo, her first professional flight was as first officer for a PAL Fokker 50 from 1995 to 1997.

She said she has not experienced any major flight problems. Except for a minor problem when decompression occurred during one of her flights two years ago, the skies have been quite friendly to Castillo.

Cebu Pacific First Officer Mayra Florencio, 30, of Novaliches, Quezon City said she had wanted to be a doctor "but, when I was growing, I was getting afraid of entering the hospitals, so I scratched the idea of being a doctor. I wanted to be different, so I took up flying."

"Actually, what I wanted to do was do research for NASA (the American National Aeronautics and Space Administration)," Florencio added, "but I did not know what course to take, so I took up a four-year course in flying. At first, my parents and relatives were quite hesitant but I’ve proven myself, so they supported me."

During her training to be a pilot, Florencio said the orientation was mostly hands-on flying that came with a pleasant bonus — she got to go sightseeing.

"I was really amazed, especially (when) flying at low levels" during her first flight over the town of Plaridel in Bulacan, she said.

Meeting the minimum height requirement of five feet and four inches, Florencio has logged 3,000 hours of flying time.

Immediately after graduating from high school at Sta. Isabel College in 1991, she enrolled at the Air Link International Aviation School and completed her course in 1995.

"After graduation, the school took me in and I worked there as a ground instructor for one semester. I also worked as a ground instructor for Airworks Aviation from 1996 to 1997," she said.

Florencio worked for Air Ads Inc. as first officer from 1996 to 1997 as first officer on the firm’s King Air 200 and King Air E-90 aircraft.

She has also worked as a ground instructor for the Asian Aviation Academy, then for Aboitiz One Inc. as first officer for a YS-11, before she was hired by Cebu Pacific as first officer for the airline’s DC-9 in January this year.

Like Castillo, Florencio said she has not encountered any major mishaps in her flights.

[kiretoce]

23 June 2004
PAL, Air France code-share on Manila-Paris


Philippine Airlines and Air France have begun code-share services between Manila and Paris, with Air France as the operating carrier.

PAL is now able to offer seats on Air France’s daily flight between the two capitals, giving the Philippine flag carrier a presence in the French market for the first time since June 1998.

“We are pleased to be back in France, via our partnership with Air France, after a six-year absence. The challenge now is to re-establish ourselves in this important market,” said Henry So Uy, PAL executive vice president for the commercial group.

The service shall enjoy dual designation, with both PAL and Air France codes appended to the flight numbers.

Flight PR 161 departs Manila’s NAIA Terminal 1 everyday at 7:25 p.m. and arrives at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport at 5:50 a.m. the following day. The return flight, PR 166, departs Paris at 7:45 p.m. and lands in Manila at 5:35 p.m. the next day.

All flights are routed via Bangkok and utilize Air France’s Boeing 747-400 aircraft.

Members of Mabuhay Miles, PAL’s frequent flyer program, earn mileage credit points when taking these code-shared flights. However, redemption for travel awards can only be done on PAL-operated flights.

PAL first flew to Paris on November 4, 1982 and the French capital quickly became one of the airline’s most popular European destinations. But the service was suspended in June 1998 when the flag carrier encountered operational and financial difficulties.

Air France is PAL’s tenth international code-share partner, after Cathay Pacific Airways, Emirates, EVA Air (for cargo), Garuda Indonesia, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qatar Airways, Royal Brunei Airlines and Vietnam Airlines.

[Skyblade]

Good to see more European connections opening up. Now it would be complete if PAL finally comes back themselves. :D

[kiretoce]

Good to see more European connections opening up. Now it would be complete if PAL finally comes back themselves. :D

Can't wait for that day to happen! If only....

[kiretoce]

All-female crew flies for Cebu Pacific
By Sandy Araneta
The Philippine Star 07/10/2004

http://www.philstar.com/philstar/main/20040710/images/sf.jpg
The women of Cebu Pacific Airlines are taxiing off the runway — and they have full control of their aircraft, from the cabin to the cockpit.

Cebu Pacific's FA uniforms looks frumpy! :jk:

[federal]

for now code sharing lang kaya ng pal.... MNL-CDG .. via Air France

[kiretoce]

Where in Europe (cities only, not countries) has the most concentration of Pinoys? Maybe PAL should start flying to those cities when it commences flights to Europe again.

[kiretoce]

Friday, July 16, 2004
PAL not yet feeling pinch of 'open sky' policy
By Edwin G. Espejo

PHILIPPINE Airlines (PAL) president and chief executive officer Emilio Zapanta on Thursday said the country's national flag carrier has so far fended off competition from other international airlines, specifically, the United States despite the country's compliance to the "open sky" policy.

"The open sky policy automatically started already in October last year," Zapanta said.

But he said the US airline industry is now beset with serious economic problems that it has not taken full advantage of the country's adherence to the policy that opened up domestic routes to international airlines.

"They could not take advantage of it yet. They have to get out of that problem first before they could take advantage of it," he told Sun.Star in an interview inside the Mabuhay Lounge of PAL at the General Santos City Airport.

But the top PAL honcho still reiterated their strong opposition to the said international air transport policy.

"The reason we have been against it is because it is open skies for them but not for us," he said.

Under the said agreement, which the Philippines signed several years back, US carriers are allowed unlimited access to the country's air routes while the country is limited to only nine gateways and five destinations beyond in the United States.

"It is not equal. It is not level playing field," Zapanta added.

PAL has not increased its number of flights to the United States and so is the latter because of the crises that hit its airline industry in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attack.

Zapanta however says the situation is just temporary and sees an increased in the number of flights of US carriers in the future.

"After a year or two, when they are out of their difficulty, we will probably see them increasing their flights here," Zapanta warned.

Zapanta was here Thursday to inaugurate their Mabuhay Lounge, which he said is another step at improving their services to their passengers.

[JudeD]

Where in Europe (cities only, not countries) has the most concentration of Pinoys? Maybe PAL should start flying to those cities when it commences flights to Europe again.

Milan, Italy. Just like the Claudine Barreto/Piolo Pascual movie.

[mhe-ann]

did you watch it? :jk:
Cute naman ung Cebu Pacific's FA uniforms ah...mejo unique ang color combination :D

[absent-minded]

OT: PAL's A330-300's Mabuhay/Business class when it was I guess still pretty new... 1998. got it from airliners. anyone been on Mabuhay class? my dad was so lucky! he got upgraded to first class on YVR-MNL last week!!! hahaha..! and then he on the same flight as some family friends and they were all bumped up into business from economy! haha... so lucky...!!! their flight was 55 minutes early at MNL btw... so it was like 3:45 am. haha... weird, but better than late, of course...

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/156391/L/

I love the dark blue color!!! when is PAL getting new planes by the way? aren't their 747s - apart from the last one delivered 12/2003 (was that one new?) - outdated already? what are the other older planes on PAL's fleet?

[renell]

well Milan isn't exactly a main hub. and i dont think Alitalia has the muscle to fly to Manila just yet. London has a big Pinoy population, and Heathrow is a big hub. Vienna, Austria, also has a big Pinoy population. i dont think most of us know about that

[SunKing]

PR's 5th 747 isn't new, but it was originally ordered by them, Air Canada was the previous owner. The Boeing aircraft are the senior planes in the fleet.

Their Business/First products are really good but even if the seats recline well, they don't have the privacy shells which other airlines like SQ and CX have, and their entertainment system leaves a lot to be desired.

[SunKing]

Philippines Cebu Pacific, Jollibee In Marketing Tie Up

MANILA (Dow Jones)--Philippine budget airline Cebu Pacific and Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC.PH) are introducing a new flavor to in-flight meals.

Last Friday, Cebu Pacific started serving an array of choices from Jollibee's popular fastfood menu on flights on two key domestic routes - Manila-Cebu and Manila-Davao.

The eight daily roundtrip flights between Manila and Cebu and the three runs on the Manila-Davao route account for about 60% of the budget carrier's daily domestic passenger traffic.

"The first thing we get from this arrangement are happy passengers," Danilo Mojica, general manager of Cebu Pacific, told Dow Jones Newswires. "We're a fun airline," he added.

Cebu Pacific's normal domestic inflight service sees crews holding parlor games and sing-alongs to entertain passengers, and serving snacks instead of hot food.

Cebu Pacific, a unit of conglomerate JG Summit Holdings Inc. (JGS.PH), is the second largest domestic carrier and claims a 38% market share. It also flies to Hong Kong, South Korea and two other destinations in China.

Jollibee, the local fastfood chain that domestically continues to beat world-renowned McDonald's (MCD), serves burgers, fried chicken, pies, pasta, deli, and Chinese fastfood in its more than 970 stores nationwide and abroad.

Mojica said the arrangement with Jollibee is a promotional attraction that will initially run for a month, but could be extended depending on the outcome of the program.

"We're playing it by ear," said Mojica. "But it looks successful and we may extend it."

He said the marketing effort by Cebu Pacific and Jollibee - which he believes is the first type of arrangement among Asian carriers - isn't expected to generate any revenue or even savings for the budget carrier. "It is not a moneymaking venture," he added.

Even so, Mojica said that Jollibee's numerous stores offer a big opportunity to advertise Cebu Pacific.

"It also gives us a lot of media mileage, (with) mutually beneficial advertising," he added.

Meantime, Mojica said Cebu Pacific is finalizing details of its $300 million refleeting program and will soon decide what type of aircraft it will acquire to replace its current fleet of 12 DC 9-32 McDonnel Douglas airplanes which are at least 25 years old.

The budget carrier is looking at either 125-seater Boeing 717-200s or the 134-seater Airbus A319.

Cebu Pacific plans to borrow $255 million to finance the refleeting. Some of these loans are expected to come from foreign export credit agencies.

[kiretoce]

Vienna? Really? I never knew that. I always thought that countries in Europe with huge Pinoy communities are the UK, Germany, Italy and Switzerland. Austria never crossed my mind at all.


well Milan isn't exactly a main hub. and i dont think Alitalia has the muscle to fly to Manila just yet. London has a big Pinoy population, and Heathrow is a big hub. Vienna, Austria, also has a big Pinoy population. i dont think most of us know about that

[kiretoce]

PAL opens direct flights between Seoul, Palawan
Posted: 7:13 PM | Jul. 22, 2004

PHILIPPINE Airlines (PAL) said Thursday it began a commercial service between Seoul and Puerto Princesa on the western Philippine island of Palawan in a bid to attract more South Korean tourists.

In a statement, PAL said it would operate a thrice-weekly service between Seoul and Purerto Princesa city, using Airbus A320-200 aircraft.

"The service is designed to cater to the booming tourist traffic from (South) Korea, the country's third largest source of visitors, by providing them an alternative to the traditional destinations of Manila and Cebu," the airline said.

The Puerto Princesa route is PAL's fourth link between the Philippines and South Korea. It already flies daily between Manila and Seoul, four times weekly between Manila and Busan, and four times weekly between Cebu and Seoul.

[Lightspeed]

Good to see more European connections opening up. Now it would be complete if PAL finally comes back themselves. :D

Yah! I hope PAL rebuilds its European network soon so that the Philippines will gain back its presence in that important region.

Prior to 1998, I think PAL had presence in London, Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Rome.

[absent-minded]

Yah! I hope PAL rebuilds its European network soon so that the Philippines will gain back its presence in that important region.

Prior to 1998, I think PAL had presence in London, Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Rome.

was PAL profiting from those routes then? what plane did they use to service them, btw? did they stop because of the internal problems of the airline or simply because they were losing money?

[kiretoce]

was PAL profiting from those routes then? what plane did they use to service them, btw? did they stop because of the internal problems of the airline or simply because they were losing money?

I would think that they were profitable routes. Usually PAL flies to destinations with comparatively large Pinoy expatriate communities, Pinoys in general are very "brand loyal" and are proud of anything "Tatak Pinoy" with the quality to back it up that they can show to the rest of the world.

I'm guessing PAL used their B747s for those routes, they can carry more passengers and cargo loads.

[absent-minded]

Pinoys in general are very "brand loyal" and are proud of anything "Tatak Pinoy" with the quality to back it up that they can show to the rest of the world.

hahaha... yeah, usually happens after they leave the country. moreso with the middle to upper classes...

[rico]

hahaha... yeah, usually happens after they leave the country. moreso with the middle to upper classes...
so true eh. it's the filipinos in the philippines who are more into "imported goods". filipinos abroad are always searching for filipino products.

[SunKing]

PR used the B747-200s on the European routes like Athens, London, Paris, and others, up until the delivery of the A340s. PR used the A340s until its closure in 1998.

[SunKing]

Semi-OT: McCarran's travel numbers remain sky high in June

By CHRIS JONES
GAMING WIRE

The first hard indicator of this year's summer travel season took off Friday from McCarran International Airport, and once again, the latest air passenger statistics offered no indication this city's tourism industry is coming back to earth anytime soon.

Passenger traffic at the Las Vegas airport exceeded 3.5 million for the fourth consecutive month in June, increasing 14.2 percent compared with the same month a year ago, the Clark County Aviation Department said.

[snip]

Japan Airlines' nearly 8,000 passengers was 67.5 percent better than its June 2003 total, and newcomer Philippine Airlines added 4,700 new passengers through its service to and from Manila by way of Vancouver, British Columbia.

[federal]

that good news...

[kiretoce]

24 July 2004
PAL boosts new tourism front with Seoul-Palawan flights


MANILA - Philippine Airlines starts today (July 23) a pioneering special commercial service between Puerto Princesa and Seoul, opening a new gateway for Korean tourists to the Philippines and notching an aviation milestone in the process.

At 8:50 p.m., flight PR 4870 from Seoul is scheduled to land at Puerto Princesa International Airport, marking the first time an international flight of a major carrier touches down in the Palawan capital.

The maiden flight, utilizing an Airbus A320-200 aircraft, is carrying a full load of 150 Korean passengers. They will be welcomed at the airport by city mayor Edward S. Hagedorn, PAL branch head Rey Salvatierra and leaders of the local tourism community.

The service operates twice weekly, with departures from Seoul every Tuesday and Friday at 5:10 p.m. Arrival in Puerto Princesa is at 8:50 p.m.

The return flight, PR 4860, departs Puerto Princesa on the same days at 10:45 a.m. and arrives in Seoul at 4:10 p.m. PAL has deployed the A320-200, which seats 12 in Mabuhay (business) class and 138 in economy, on the four-hour-and-20-minute flight.

The service is designed to cater to the booming tourist traffic from Korea, the country's third largest source of visitors, by providing them an alternative to the traditional destinations of Manila and Cebu.

Palawan, a major island province located in western Philippines, is a heretofore untapped area for international tourism but brimming with potential. The rugged island chain is famed for its unspoiled natural beauty, highlighted by hidden lagoons, dramatic limestone cliffs and unique wildlife.

Puerto Princesa, the provincial capital, is the regional center of commerce, education and political administration, and hosts the area's only international airport.

The service is PAL's fourth link between the Philippines and Korea. The flag carrier already flies daily between Manila and Seoul, four times weekly between Manila and Busan, and four times weekly between Cebu and Seoul.

It is part of PAL's thrust to boost tourist inflows to the country by developing international services out of secondary points.

[absent-minded]

I hope this route will prove to be as successful as PAL's MNL-YVR LAS flight!! 4,700 passengers a month is technically a completely full flight on every one of its 4-time weekly flights.

[SKYLINEPIGEON]

cebu air pacific is close in sealing a deal with airbus for the purhcase of 12 a319 worth between 500-600 millions usd, seen as a blow to boeing which has been pushing the airliner to but their 717s