Philippine Airlines Finalizes Order For Nine Airbus A350-1000 Aircraft

Philippine Airlines has finalized on Tuesday an order for the purchase of nine new Airbus A350-1000 aircraft. The nine new aircraft will add to the airline's long haul fleet of an already existing two Airbus A350-900 aircraft, nine Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, and ten Airbus A330-300 aircraft. 

The airline had initially signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Airbus back in May, but the order was only recently finalized at the Paris Airshow. Deliveries will commence by the end of 2025 and will be completed by 2027.

The Airbus A350-1000 aircraft will be used for ultra long haul flights from Manila to North America destinations, including those on the East Coast of the United States. These aircraft will be able to seat up to 380 passengers in business, premium economy, and economy class. 

“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," said Captain Stanley K. Ng, the President and Chief Operating Officer of the airline.
 

This order signals the airline's expansion as it returns to profitability after restructuring and exiting bankruptcy protection back in 2021. Overall, the deal marks a growing trend in the aviation industry as airlines continue to grow and recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and travel increases. 

The order marks the beginning of day two of the Paris Airshow, with Airbus already having a strong start. The aircraft manufacturer secured a massive 500 aircraft order from Indigo, as well as an Airbus A350 order from Air Mauritius and an Airbus A320neo order from FlyNas.