Philippines Airlines will remove all of its planes from storage.
By the end of 2023, all of PAL Holdings’ aircraft will be out of storage and flying again, according to PAL Chairman Lucio Tan, who made the announcement at a media event on March 15 in Manila. PAL Holdings is the parent company of Philippine Airlines (PR, Manila Ninoy Aquino International) and PAL Express.
According to Tan, who added that the remaining parked aircraft should resume service between now and the fourth quarter of 2023, “We are expecting a continuing robust market recovery,” thus preparations have been put in place to improve and enhance our fleet.
Three Philippines Airlines planes—an A320-200, an A320-200N, and an A321-200N—remain in storage, according to ch-aviation fleets advanced data. Two PAL Express DHC-8-Q400s, one A321-200, and two A320-200s are all still parked. At Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila, every aircraft is present. According to the same data, PAL Express now has 20 operational aircraft, compared to 45 active aircraft for Philippines Airlines. Currently, several aircraft from both fleets are out of service for repair.
At the celebration for the airline’s 82nd birthday, Philippine Airlines CEO Stanley Ng said the timing of the aircraft’s return to service would depend on the availability of parts, some of which would be delayed by issues with the global supply chain. He also mentioned that the aircraft needed to be renovated before it could resume flight. The majority of the aircraft entering service again will be placed on routes into and out of China.
One of the main difficulties is supply chain. Thus, if we were to activate our aircraft, we would also need the suppliers of engines and other replacement components to do so, he stated. For Philippine Airlines, this year is crucial. The key priority right now is making sure we’ll be trustworthy and consistent.
In addition to this year, Ng stated that he aimed to bring the PAL Holdings fleet to approximately 100 aircraft by 2027, which would be comparable to the pre-pandemic numbers. We can’t stay this way; we must change. There are so many opportunities, especially as we move forward. There are no outstanding orders for the airline in the Boeing orderbook, however according to Airbus order data, Philippines Airlines has seven A321-200s, thirteen A321-200Ns, and thirteen A330-300s ordered there.
