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.  

23 comments:

  1. As per latest AirlineRoute announcement, the 4 weekly A21N service to BNE is cancelled. The 3 weekly A343 is to continue.

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    1. Looks like PAL A321neo delivery is delayed likely due to issue with the P&W GTF. But the good news is that P&W found a solution and will resume delivery of thier engines this march.

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    2. Yes that is correct. The plane is ready but the engine is not.

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    3. Isn't PAL ordering the A321 Neo LR with the Airbus Cabin Flex (ACF) configuration? This picture shows a standard A321 Neo with the second main door

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  2. Im excited for the A350! I believe that the cabin will match those of the a330 tri-class.

    I'm kinda curious on the business class seats of the A321neo. does anyone know what seat or whose the seat manufacturer the upcoming business class seats are?

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    1. rumors are....

      https://www.ausbt.com.au/the-next-generation-in-airbus-boeing-single-aisle-business-class

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  3. Chicago? Where did that come from? I assumed from previous readings that Chicago and Houston would take over the Vancouver tag-ons (or whatever it's called) from the now-nonstop Toronto and NY flights.

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    1. Good analysis! But from my understanding however, Chicago will go non-stop (or maybe a tag-on but will transition eventually if passenger-count permits), Houston will be the receiving-end of the tag-ons maybe together with Miami, (hopefully wishful thinking) and the stop-over will be between Vancouver or Seattle (i dont know if it's possible with the US-PH air agreement)

      The A350s will be deployed to these areas. Those "predictions" may be possible if PAL will acquire the -1000 variant in-order to deploy it to LAX and SFO to compliment the 777's and the -900's will be deloyed to thinner or long-range routes in N. America and to European routes.

      But who know's the future, eh? Anything is still possible hehe.

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    2. PR is not allowed to transport passengers within the US due to cabotage. Its possible they’ll take the Polar route to ORD or MCO. I hope they’ll open another European destination.

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    3. The ordered A359LR are intended to fly those destination. ORD may be flown earlier by 77W via YVR but when direct flight becomes viable the 359LR will take its place. Just like YYZ and the upcoming JFK. YVR next tag on would be split between IAD and MIA. That is the reason why PAL is asking government to ask Canada to give them another week as they have already flown all their entitlements.

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  4. Philippines Airlines to commence operations in the Maldives

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    1. The story was Maldives wants to enter open sky treaty with the Philippines. Talks is scheduled in a few months time, second quarter in 2018.

      The problem with the propose treaty is that no airline flies. We would speculate that the Philippine panel would just grant seven flights per week and expand it from there when it is being flown. Both national carriers doesn't have immediate plans to fly at this time citing low traffic volume.

      According to CAB, demand for travel from the Philippines to the Maldives and vice versa is quite low.

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  5. Just for correction, only SQ ordered the -ULR.

    What PAL has is the -HGW version.

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    1. Actually, all of them are HGW variants. There is no such thing as LR or ULR. It is only the media that call them as such, for product differentiation. We do the same thing.

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    2. No such thing as the ULR variant? That's false, several airlines have discussed openly about ordering and/or converting some existing A359 orders into ULR variants. SQ has ordered seven A359-ULR variants. The first one is currently on station#40 undergoing final assembly. Still do not believe it's only the media that calls them as such?

      Here's what Airbus has to say about the URL variant...

      "As part of its philosophy of continuous innovation, Airbus has launched the Ultra-Long Range version of the A350-900. Designated as the A350-900ULR, the jetliner offers increased fuel-carrying capacity of up to 165,000 litres and a higher 280-tonne maximum takeoff weight, enabling service on non-stop flights of up to 19 hours."

      http://www.airbus.com/aircraft/passenger-aircraft/a350xwb-family/a350-900.html





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    3. We hate to burst bubbles, but we hope you'll be guided accordingly.

      This is the latest A350 Certification as of December 17, 2017. The PAL variant is already there, sadly no such thing as LR or ULR. Between Airbus and EASA we would gladly prefer the latter as correct.

      https://www.easa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/dfu/TCDS_EASA%20_A_151_Airbus350_Iss11_2017%2012%2021.pdf

      Cheers mate!

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    4. The ‘xtra’ distance
      As part of its philosophy of continuous innovation, Airbus has launched the Ultra-Long Range version of the A350-900. Designated as the A350-900ULR, the jetliner offers increased fuel-carrying capacity of up to 165,000 litres and a higher 280-tonne maximum takeoff weight, enabling service on non-stop flights of up to 19 hours.

      Benefitting from the A350 XWB’s unique flexibility, the extended range capability does not involve installation of additional fuel tanks (just an adaptation of the fuel system within the existing fuel tank), and the A350-900ULR can be reconfigured to the standard long-haul specifications if required by the operator

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  6. https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2018/03/02/philippine-airlines-seattle-manila-flights-airbus.html

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    1. Well, they have. And we're pretty sure its not the A359. Think of another airplane that becomes idle when JFK and YYZ flies with the 359

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  7. Actually PAL did not order the ULR version of thd A350 instead they ordered the HGW version. That also stated in Airbus website. The A350ULR has a takeoff weight of 280t while the HGW that PAL ordered has a takeoff weight of 278t. Airbus stated that PAL does not need the ULR version of the A350 for their mission in the US. Flight across the Pacific from the Philippines are generally three hours shorter than flights originating in Singapore.

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  8. I'm actually hoping they reinstate the CEB-LAX route with this plane. I think they could actually make that route work especially now that they've finally upped the ante and improved their soft as well as their hard product. Alot of people really got turned off when they get inside the plane and they see how old and tattered the A340 was.

    I really hope I see the A350 in CEB most especially since CEB terminal 2 is also opening this year. Having the CEB-LAX route reinstated would really just be the cherry on top of a very beautiful cake for CEB

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