Philippine Airlines signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to order nine Airbus A350-1000 aircraft.
If finalized, the nine aircraft will be deployed on routes from the Philippines to Canada and the United States as part of Philippine Airlines’ Ultra Long Haul Fleet project and will join the airline’s fleet of two Airbus A350-900 aircraft.
“The A350-1000 combines greater range capability with the higher capacity we need to serve future demand. It’s the perfect aircraft to enable PAL to meet its expansion plans in a sustainable way, while offering passengers the highest levels of onboard comfort,” said Captain Stanley Ng, the President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the airline.
Due to the A350-1000’s superior range, Philippine Airlines will also be able to deploy the aircraft on transpacific and transpolar routes to Canada and the United States year-round, as well as explore opportunities to fly to Europe directly.
“We are committed to offering our passengers the best possible travel experience, and these state-of-the-art aircraft will enable us to do just that as we carry out our mission to connect the world, and grow trade and tourism,” Ng added.
“We look forward to working closely with our long-standing customer Philippine Airlines as it moves forward with its long haul fleet modernisation programme,” added Christian Scherer, the COO of Airbus.
In addition to the two A350-900s, data from ch-aviation.com data shows that Philippine Airlines also operates 15 Airbus A320, 21 A321, eight A321neo, 10 A330, nine Boeing 777-300ER, and 10 De Havilland Canada DHC-8-Q400 aircraft.
Philippine Airlines used to have four more Airbus A350-900 aircraft. However, the aircraft left the fleet between 2021 and 2022, with all four ending up at Germany’s Lufthansa in H1 2022, per ch-aviation.com data. The German airline has also looked into adding an additional six second-hand A350-900 aircraft, four of which were former LATAM Airlines frames. The remaining two had been previously operated by South African Airways.