The FINANCIAL — Philippine Airlines recently acquired its 7th Boeing 777-300ER and will be accepting delivery of its 8th unit by December this year enabling the flag carrier to increase its flights to North America.
By December 2016, PAL will start operating double daily flights between Manila and Los Angeles from the current 10 weekly flights allowing passengers to choose between morning and evening flights. Flights between Manila and Vancouver will increase from 7 to 10 weekly, while flights between Manila and Toronto will increase from 3 to 4 weekly, according to PAL.
“Our B777’s arrival is just in time for the coming Christmas peak season. The next triple seven will be delivered a few weeks from now or by early December. These planes are proof of my commitment and full support to Philippine Airlines. As promised, we continue to invest billions of pesos to make PAL truly a world-class, five-star airline”, said PAL Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Lucio C. Tan during the welcome ceremony for the brand new plane held recently at the Villamor Airbase grounds in Pasay City, attended by PAL, LTG, Boeing and Intrepid Aviation officials as well as government and media guests.
“With additional seats come additional capacity, which now enables PAL to increase frequencies on its transpacific flights to the US Mainland and Canada. Our passengers can now choose from a wider variety of schedules and at the same time, experience service with the heart of the Filipino,” stressed PAL President and COO Jaime J. Bautista.
The new acquisitions are part of the airline’s fleet modernization program, which, together with route network expansion and service innovations, is in line with PAL’s vision to be a 5-star, full service national carrier of the Philippines.
The 2 B777s will be Wifi – enabled and are equipped with in-seat inflight entertainment, providing passengers a wide selection of movies, music and shows.
The aircraft cabin – with 42 seats on business and 323 on economy – was designed by LIFT Strategic Design, a Tokyo-based studio, headed up by Daniel Baronl, who also designed the cabin for PAL’s first 6 B777-300ERs.
“It is an immense honor and pleasure to be working with Philippine Airlines again. LIFT is committed to supporting our good friends at PAL in their quest for five stars, and I believe in their potential to achieve that goal.”, Baronl stressed.
The walls separating the cabins show a coastline pattern of the sea around an island. In the forward and rear walls of business class, an exclusive version of coastlines in a light shade of sand is seen. The carpet design of this section is inspired by banig (basket weave) and handwoven floor coverings. The business class seat fabric has a basket weave pattern in deep sea blue. The overall appearance is fresh and modern, with a premium look and feel. The economy class seat fabric features a flip-flop color-change effect; its colors appear different depending on the viewing angle. With a single fabric, the seat backs appear turquoise, while the seat bottom cushions take on a sunshine orange hue. The sides of the seats are covered in a different fabric with a diamond pattern that has roots in traditional Filipino cloth weaving.
The interior is aligned with PAL’s brand equity “The Heart of the Filipino” as it brings together the distinct Filipino look, evoking the country’s warmth, charm and hospitality.
The PAL Group will have a total of eighty planes by the end of the year.
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