‘Through the roof’ bookings to help PAL hit profitability this year

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Philippine Airlines (PAL) is targeting to reach P10 billion in net income this year, a turnaround after the flag carrier completed its voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy process in 2021.

Stanley Ng, president of the Lucio Tan-owned airline, attributed this positive outlook on the resurgence of air travel following the easing of mobility restrictions.

“This year, [we’re] okay. We are profitable this year,” he recently told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Pasay City.

Ng said flight bookings for December were already “through the roof” due to increased demand for the holiday season.

PAL Holdings, operator of the flag carrier, registered P6.76 billion in nine-month net profits, supported by its passenger and cargo revenues. This was a reversal from a P21.93-billion net loss in the same period last year.

Nine-month consolidated revenues tripled to P97.77 billion from P32.16 billion a year ago as passenger revenues skyrocketed by 265.3 percent to P79.52 billion. Cargo segment’s top line figures climbed by nearly 21 percent to P10.74 billion for the period from P8.91 billion last year.

The momentum came after PAL announced its exit from a voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy process in the United States in December 2021 as it completed a financial restructuring plan that eliminated $2.1 billion worth of obligations.

This year, PAL, along with other airlines, had resumed more flights to international and domestic networks as they take advantage of the so-called revenge travel.

Most recently, PAL inked an agreement with the city government of Borongan to operate a flight from Cebu to the Eastern Samar province by Dec. 19. The flag carrier had also announced that its Cebu-Baguio and Cebu-Cotabato routes would start serving passengers this month.

It also launched flights to Nagoya, Fukuoka, Osaka and Tokyo back in October with the lifting of the tourist arrival cap in Japan.

Ng said they were studying to expand routes to Perth, Australia, and resume flights to India by next year. INQ