Philippine Airlines has confirmed a deal with Airbus for nine Airbus A350-1000s to be delivered in the coming years.
The deal was first revealed last month as an MoU has been firmed up at this year’s edition of the Paris Airshow and is a significant boost to the overall Philippine Airlines future fleet.
The Ultra Long Haul Fleet project, as it’s been outlined, will be made possible thanks to the acquisition of this A350-1000, where the company has the ambition to fly to North America nonstop.
While North America is targeted, a particular focus is placed on those East Coast services to U.S. and Canadian destinations that the A350-1000 will allow the airline to achieve.
Philippine Airlines is already familiar with the Airbus A350 series as they operate the -900s, which are in active service; however, the -1000 will be a considerable leap into the next generation of aircraft.
This order will see PAL operating one of the youngest and most modern widebody fleets in Asia. We selected the A350-1000 to give PAL the power to match capacity closely to predicted demand on both the very longest routes to the North American East Coast but also on our prime trunk routes to the West Coast and potentially to Europe as well. At the same time the aircraft will use significantly less fuel than older aircraft of a similar size, which also brings an important reduction in carbon emissions.
Captain Stanley K. Ng, President and Chief Operating Officer of Philippine Airlines
Thanks to the acquisition of the Airbus A350-1000 and their subsequent deliveries, the airline will eventually say goodbye to its current operational fleet of Boeing 777s which have been a driving force for long-haul flights for some time.
Philippine Airlines will equip its Airbus A350-1000s with 380 seats in a three-class layout. As such, the airline says a Business, Premium and Economy class will be present. Interestingly, however, the A350-1000s will come as a ten-abreast Economy class, only made possible thanks to enhancements performed to the aircraft by the European plane maker.
