PAL beefs up fleet

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines said it had ordered six Q400 turboprop planes made by Canada’s Bombardier Commercial Aircraft, valued at close to $200 million.

PAL, which would use the short-range aircraft for domestic routes, made the announcement on the December issue of its Mabuhay Magazine.

The planes would allow PAL to expand its interisland domestic operations.

“The new Q400s, ideal for short runways, have 10 more seats than our existing Q400s, as well as a premium economy section,” Lucio Tan, PAL owner and chair, said in the magazine.

Tan added that PAL ordered six Q400 planes and acquired an option to buy six more Q400s. Bombardier estimated that each plane had a so-called list price of $33 million, meaning all 12 aircraft could cost about $400 million.

Each Bombardier plane can seat 86 passengers, the aircraft maker said. PAL’s new Q400s would be delivered throughout 2017, it added.

The Q400 is among Bombardier’s most popular planes.

“The worldwide fleet has logged more than 6.9 million flight hours and has transported more than 429 million passengers. Long recognized as a high-value asset by operators, the Q400 aircraft is now also attracting growing interest from the leasing community,” Bombardier said in its website.

PAL took delivery of seven aircraft this year, comprised of long-range Boeing 777-300ERs and Airbus A321s, bolstering its fleet to 81 planes thus far.

Bolstering its fleet, improving services  and opening up new routes was part of PAL’s plan to become a five-star carrier by 2020.

PAL president Jaime Bautista said the carrier was targeting to carry about 15 million passengers next year. That compares with an estimated 13.5 million passengers for the full-year 2016, he said.

He said PAL was still aiming for profitability in 2017, despite shrinking yields.

PAL is operated by Tan-controlled PAL Holdings Inc., which is listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange.

PAL Holdings saw earnings fall by more than half in the first nine months of the year, as revenue came in weaker than expected due to lower cargo sales. The company noted that net income from Jan. to Sept. this year hit P2.55 billion, down 57 percent from the same period in 2015.