Skyjet Overruns Sayak Airport

28 February 2018

A SkyJet Airlines BAe 146-200 (RP-C3855) jet operating under flight #M8421 has overran Sayak Airport runway at 11:25am Tuesday in Siargao after landing causing closure of Sayak Airport and suspension of its subsequent flights.

No injuries were reported and all 74 passengers were accounted safe. The cause of the incident was reported to be birds strike to one of its engines and attempted evasion to hit an eagle bird upon landing. CAAP investigators were immediately dispatched today to conduct investigation of the excursion.

The aircraft was towed back to the airports apron around 3pm. No structural damage was reported to the aircraft.

Sayak airport has 1,300 meter runway sufficient to support STOL operations of BAe 146-200 jet according to the CAAP.

This is the second runway overrun incident for the airline having made its first excursion at Balesin Airport where the aircraft was written-off.

CAAP reopened the airport today per its latest NOTAM.


Pic: Ephraim Domingo

CEB Adds Melbourne

27 February 2018

Philippine low cost carrier Cebu Pacific Air (CEB) will finally fly Melbourne beginning August 14, 2018 thrice a week from Manila. It will be its second destination in Australia after Sydney.

Cebu Pacific Vice-President for Corporate Affairs JR Mantaring said that plans to launch the flights earlier scheduled on “June” this year was rescheduled to August due to delay in regulatory approvals for the route.

The launch for Melbourne flight was postponed three times due to aircraft rationalization and poor economic conditions of the airline.

Rationalization resulted in the axing of most of its Middle East Flights with Dubai the only destination remaining. From June to July last year, it suspended operations to Kuwait, Doha and Riyadh. Dammam was earlier terminated in 2015.

Cebu Pacific’s revenue performance in Sydney, which was launched in 2014, is getting better says Mantaring, and the airline hopes Melbourne can stimulate further demand in the Philippines-Australia market.

The airline initially added Melbourne to its network plan in 2015 after the Philippines and Australia expanded its air services agreement. Another plan was drawn in 2016 but Cebu Pacific decided to shelve plans to launch Melbourne after incurring heavy losses from its long haul operations. It has since rationalized the routes and redeployed A330 fleet to expand its domestic and regional international market.

Sydney and Dubai, which is served daily most of the year, are the only remaining long haul routes in Cebu Pacific’s network which constantly use three aircraft on rotations.

The arrival of seven A321ceos on March 2018 and the joining of thirty two new A321Neo aircraft beginning on the fourth quarter of 2018 until 2022 should free up the utilization of three other A330s which would be used for Australian and Hawaii expansion.

CEB operates a fleet of six A330-300s used for its international flights to Dubai, Sydney, Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong and Singapore aside from domestic route in Cebu and Davao.

PAL Introduces New York-Bound Plane

21 February 2018

Philippine Airlines unveils its first A350-900ULR plane in Toulouse for delivery in June. They will fly New York, Toronto and Chicago. Meanwhile, its first A321neo long range plane bound for Australia is ready in Finkerwerder for delivery next week. It is scheduled to fly Brisbane from Manila direct on March 27.  

Picture Speaks A Thousand Words

15 February 2018

Airbus A350-1000 demonstration tour arrived in Manila closed to midnight for final sale pitch with flag carrier Philippine Airlines which manifest intent to add the type to its growing A350 fleet.

The Future Is Here

10 February 2018

The Future runs bright for this two aircraft under one name.

Bombardier Commercial Aircraft is displaying a Philippine Airlines dual-class 86-seat Q400 regional turboprop at the 2018 Singapore Airshow, which runs from February 6 to 11 beside a big brother.

PAF Purchases 16 More Bell 412EPI

9 February 2018

Bell 412s and UH-1H, PAF Workhorses

Bell Helicopters of Canada has officially announced that the Government of the Philippines has sealed a purchase agreement for 16 more Bell 412EPI Twin-engine helicopters for the Philippine Air Force (PAF). Delivery of these twin-engine helicopters would begin in 2019.

The sale signed in December 20 last year is valued at $234.5 million (P12 billion) and is a government-to-government transaction via the Canadian Commercial Corporation to be paid over a three-year period.

Bell helicopters is the workhorse of the Philippine Air Force where it operates older variants of the manufacturer's product, particularly the UH-1H and UH-1D helicopters, which form the backbone of the rotary-winged utility fleet. It received its first two 412s in 1994 for Presidential Transport.

Bell said the additional acquisition will contribute to the modernisation programme of the Philippine military.

The company earlier delivered eight new frames to the Philippines in 2015. At present, PAF operates ten Bell 412s eight of which are 412EP units delivered in 2015. Of the latter batch, two are used for executive transport while six are operated by the 205th Tactical Helicopter Wing.

The brand new helicopters for the Philippine Department of National Defense will be ‘fully configured with fly-by-wire system and equipped with advanced avionics,’ Bell said in a press release.

Sameer Rehman, managing director of Bell Helicopter Asia-Pacific, said the PAF’s new 412EPIs will be used for SAR, humanitarian assistance, utility and passenger transport.

PAL Earns 4th Star Rating From Skytrax

Product Consistency is Key

February 8, 2018

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) has been Certified with the 4-Star Airline quality ranking by SKYTRAX, the UK-based international air transport rating organisation after reviewing airline services in December last year.

The 4-Star Airline rating is a mark of quality distinction that recognises excellent standards of Product and Staff service across different assessment categories for both the Onboard and Airport environment, with Philippine Airlines noted for providing much improved standards of product and service quality to its customers.

Philippine Airlines achieved this coveted rating after Skytrax conducted a rigorous audit across the airline’s inflight and ground service for both international and domestic flights and noted major enhancements on its end-to-end passenger experience and distinct whole-hearted service called Buong Pusong Alaga.

Commenting on the 4-Star Airline Rating awarded to Philippine Airlines, Edward Plaisted, Skytrax CEO said: “this recognises the great improvements that the airline has introduced over the last 2 years, both in terms of product change and development and enhancement of the front-line staff service. New and retrofitted aircraft have played an important part in the quality improvement process, and this looks set to develop further when Philippine Airlines introduce the A350 into their fleet. We look for consistency of quality in the 4-Star rating, and we now entrust Philippine Airlines to ensure this is duly delivered to customers.”




“This is a big win for the Philippines...Our achievement is the country’s achievement and we share this with all Filipinos around the globe.” said PAL Chairman & CEO Dr. Lucio C. Tan.

“Our Get That Star journey began in 2016. Our efforts over the last two years have borne fruit,” said PAL President and COO Jaime J. Bautista.

Bautista added that “Since 2016, we have embarked on a journey of rolling out in-flight and on-ground innovations, opened new routes, increased connectivity across PAL’s route network, added new aircraft to our fleet and importantly, invested in the Buong Pusong Alaga ( whole-hearted) training of all our cabin crew, ground crew and service providers domestically and internationally in order to enhance the passenger travel experience and earn a higher Skytrax rating,”

With the 4-Star rating now certified, PAL aims to intensify efforts as it continues unveiling new products and expanding routes, including the launch of nonstop services to New York and Brisbane as well as flights to India and additional routes to Japan and China within 2018.

“By offering the public a globally competitive airline service, we are empowered to attract more tourists to visit the Philippines, experience our country’s beauty and our people’s warmth, and to generate more economic activity for the Philippines,” said Bautista.

Skytrax completed the quality audit evaluation of Philippine Airlines last year, examining in detail all product and service delivery areas across the customer trip experience.

SKYTRAX is the leading international Airline Rating system introduced in 1999 that classifies airlines by the Quality of front-line product and staff service standards. Airline Star Ratings are recognised as a global Benchmark of airline standards.