PAL To Open Full Cargo Subsidiary

 27 April 2022

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) will open its full cargo subsidiary in June following its exit of Chapter 11 proceedings in the United States.

PAL president and COO Stanley Ng said the airline did some trials in 2020 amidst travel restrictions and airport closures, and the results were impressive for the airline.

“It’s on the way already. Unofficially, we did some trial already and it has proven to be successful,” Ng said.

The COO said the new cargo delivery service will be door to door, similar to services offered by Fedex and DHL.

It will initially start operations from the United States to the Philippines, and will soon cover other countries. The name of its logistics partner is under wraps for now.

 “So it’s from other countries all the way to the people because there’s a tie up with this logistics company. It’s from the US all the way here to the homes of the people,” Ng said.

“We are currently integrating our cargo reservations system with a new cargo mobile app and website and create more cashless payment options and offer last-mile cargo deliveries directly to homes and offices in the Philippines,” according to Ng.

The COO disclosed that PAL has moved cargoes in the belly of its B777 and A330 planes without passengers, citing for example the covid19 vaccine the airline carried from Beijing, China to Manila, and essential medical supplies from Guangzhou to Manila. 

“PAL is now a cargo airline in our own right. We will continue to develop new all-cargo markets – removing dependence on passenger traffic as a single revenue stream,” Ng said.

He did not disclosed whether the airline solely used an aircraft for this purpose, as he acknowledges that they still have plenty of underutilized aircraft sitting on the ground and the  e-commerce business is getting stronger.

“We are looking into that. We are exploring. We will know the answer to that in a year or two,” Ng said.

PAL, which hopes to return to its pre-pandemic size in two to three years, is studying to convert some of its aircraft to cargo-only airplanes.

PAL posted a significant increase in revenues last year, mainly due to the increase in cargo revenues, with air cargo being a vital partner in delivering essential goods since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cargo revenues of the airline in 2021 stood at P15.02 billion, 60 percent higher from lasts year’s P9.41 billion.