AIR Philippines, the low-cost partner of Philippine Airlines (PAL), is expanding its fleet this year with the planned acquisition of six Airbus units.
PAL president Jaime Bautista said this is part of the working plan of Air Philippines which is 99-percent owned by the Tan Group of Companies controlled by Lucio Tan.
“That is the plan but let’s just wait for the final announcement [which may happen] hopefully this year,” he said.
Initially, the plan is for Air Philippines to lease six Airbus A320s, added the PAL president.
He also said the Airbus planes will service the airlines’ existing routes.
Both PAL and Air Philippines are looking to strengthen operations with modest fleet and route network buildups. This, despite predictions by the International Air Transport Association of a dip in industry earnings due to higher fuel prices.
The two airlines have had close complementation in their flight operations, feeding passengers into each other’s networks and ensuring connections via their joint hubs at the Naia Centennial Terminal 2 in Manila and Mactan International Airport in Cebu.
Air Philippines earlier announced a new management team appointed to implement the airline’s new business model.
David Lim, president, and Cesar Chiong, executive vice president and chief operating officer, were tasked to fast track the airline’s conversion to a low-cost business model using a leaner workforce.
It said in a statement last year that the new business model involves the lease of Bombardier turboprop aircraft from PAL. The turboprop fleet flies to 19 towns and cities, operating out of two hubs—Manila and Cebu. From Manila, the airline flies to Tuguegarao, San Jose (Mindoro Occidental), Naga, Virac, Busuanga, Catarman, Calbayog, Ormoc and Surigao. From Cebu, it will service Kalibo, Iloilo, Bacolod, Tacloban, Butuan, Ozamiz, Cagayan de Oro, Gen. Santos, Zamboanga and from Zamboanga to Davao.
The following flights are being operated by Air Philippines, as code shared with PAL with the latter as the marketing carrier. Tickets issued by PAL will be accepted for carriage.
PAL is set to announce tomorrow details of its new aircraft and new destinations.
PAL, said Bautista in an earlier interview, will resume flights to India after an absence for so many years. The flag carrier is appealing to the Philippine government to help negotiate landing rights so it can service the Manila-Bangkok-Bombay route.
“We want to fly back to India in Bombay. But the problem is the landing rights. We are talking to the government to negotiate for landing rights because Bangkok won’t permit us to pick up passengers there,” he said.
PAL ceased operating this route for commercial reasons. Now, Bautista said it is time for the flag carrier to resume flights on the back of strong demand. “There are many Indians flying to Manila but not so much the other way around. Even Tourism Secretary Ace Durano said there is a strong demand and the number of Indians that visited the country last year reached thousands and thousands.”
The PAL president is hoping that negotiations for landing rights will be successful so the airline can resume service as soon as possible.
Source: The Business Mirror
