PHILIPPINE Airlines (PAL) expects its massive refleeting program to lead to as much as $400 million in savings from fuel and maintenance costs per year.
PAL president and chief operating officer Ramon S. Ang said the arrival of new aircraft will help the flag carrier reduce the share of fuel and maintenance costs to total revenues to about 40% from between 55% and 60%.
Ang, who is also president and chief operating officer of San Miguel Corp, said the expected $400-million savings translate to 20% of the airline’s average revenue of around $2 billion.
In April last year, listed company SMC acquired a 49% stake in PAL’s parent PAL Holdings Inc. worth $500 million. PAL has since mounted a massive refleeting program aimed at acquiring 100 new aircraft.
Ang said PAL also plans to embark on daily flights to Brazil via Los Angeles before year-end, following the approval of new flight rights between the South American country and the Philippines last week.
“There is a lot of demand for those flights,” Ang said. “There’s no doubt that this will be a profitable route.”
The flag carrier intends to pick up passengers in Manila and drop them off in Los Angeles. From there, a PAL flight would take the passengers to Sao Paulo.
PAL’s fleet of 45 aircraft consists of 19 Airbus A320-200s, eight A330-300s, four A319-100s, four A340-300s, five Boeing B777-300ERs, and five Boeing 747-400s.
Image courtesy of Philippine Airlines
