PAL rolls out roomier planes

Philippine Airlines (PAL) unveiled late Tuesday the first of eight Airbus A330-300 planes that were recently reconfigured for a total cost of $80 million.

This forms part of the flag carrier’s broad strategy to increase profitability and become a “five-star” airline by 2020.

PAL said the reconfiguration plan covered about half of its A330 fleet of 15 planes. The eight planes were previously 414-seater, all-economy aircraft.

The reconfiguration cut the number of seats by about 25 percent to 309 seats with the addition of more profitable business class (18 seats) and premium economy (24 seats).

PAL president Jaime Bautista told reporters the first reconfigured A330 would be used for Manila to Honolulu flights today, Thursday. The remaining seven to be reconfigured will be made available for operations through December this year.

PAL said the tri-class planes would also serve Melbourne, Sydney, Singapore, Haneda, Narita and Osaka.

PAL has been acquiring more long-haul aircraft as it seeks to widen its global presence. It will acquire another two Boeing 777-300ERs toward the end of the year, increasing its B777 fleet to 10 planes. In 2018, it will take delivery of the first of six Airbus A350s.

For the reconfigured A330s, PAL selected the Thompson Vantage XL brand for its 18 business class seats with a legroom of 44 inches, width of 23-24 inches and a full-flat recline with a bed length of 78 inches. Seats on this section have an all-aisle access.

The Zodiac 5810 brand was selected for the 24 premium economy class seats with a legroom of 38 inches, width of 19 inches and a recline of eight inches. Premium economy seats can cost from 60 percent to 80 percent more than economy, according to Ryan Uy, PAL vice president for sales.

For Economy, the Zodiac brand was chosen for the 267 seats with a legroom of 32 inches, width of 17 inches and recline of six inches.