In the words of airline spokesperson Cielo Villaluna to Inquirer.net:
“The pandemic decimated air travel and just like other carriers across the globe, it was necessary to return several planes as part of restructuring initiatives. With the pandemic receding and air travel recovering, PAL plans to further expand the fleet in the coming months.
“The aviation industry is riding on the wave of revenge travel. Passenger loads and forward bookings are positive indicators of this resurgence.”
You can watch below a recent Simple Flying analysis of the Philippine Airlines fleet:
Yes, revenge travel is a thing airlines have needed to respond to. Namely, revenge for having to take shelter from COVID-19 and now a strong desire to safely return to global air travel. As bookings increase, airlines must rebuild capacity - hence the decision by Philippine Airlines to start rebuilding the fleet post-bankruptcy.
Philippine Airlines had to enter Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2021. This is using American law to shed debt and restructure the airline. The fleet was somewhat reduced as a result.
RP-C8786 is an Airbus A330-300 – namely, an A330-343(E) variant – that, according to ch-aviation.com, had its first flight on November 22, 2013. It was delivered on January 21, 2014, to its only operator - Philippine Airlines. The aircraft has a total passenger capacity of 309, with 18 first class seats, 24 premium seats, and 267 economy seats.
There is in-flight entertainment, which is good as the A330-300 has a range of 6,350 NM (11,750 km). That’s more than sufficient to get from Manila to Los Angeles (11,736 km) or Manila to London (10,728 km). The A330-300 relies on two Rolls-Royce Trent 700 turbofan engines. These fuel-efficient engines are key to the A330's success.
Philippine Airlines announced in a February 3rd statement that, “The A330, RP-C8786, was flown to Manila on January 31 from Nîmes-Alès-Camargue-Cévennes Airport in France via Dubai”. The A330 repossessed is the same A330 photographed at the top of this story.
What are your thoughts? Please share with civility in the comments.
