PAL leases two more planes as supply chain woes persist

MANILA — Philippine Airlines (PAL) is leasing two jets from European company Wamos Air starting June 1 to augment its fleet capacity as the global aviation sector continues to grapple with supply chain constraints that have grounded aircraft.

In a statement on Friday, the Lucio Tan-led airline announced its five-year temporary wet-lease agreement for two Airbus A330-200s with Wamos to service its Manila-Sydney-Manila and Manila-Melbourne-Manila flights.

Under the arrangement, the lessor provides the lessee with aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance.

“We see the need to temporarily add these aircraft to ensure that we have sufficient capacity to meet the demand that we are anticipating across our network,” PAL president and chief operating officer Stanley Ng said.

He noted the flag carrier has “additional maintenance requirements during this period due to global supply chain issues that continue to impact the industry.”

READ: PAL may ground two more aircraft

Aircraft maintenance is taking a long time due to a lack of spare parts, resulting in several jets being out of commission. For PAL, Ng previously said they have about five units currently parked for maintenance.

The airline budgeted $450 million this year for capital expenditures, allocating 80 percent of the funding for the refurbishment of its A321ceo units, maintenance and upgrades of other jets, and payments for new aircraft orders.

Aircraft deliveries

The flag carrier is expecting delivery of 13 Airbus A321-231 neo (new engine option) aircraft between 2026 and 2029. It is also set to receive nine Airbus A350-1000 jets between 2025 and 2027.

The airline currently operates a 78-jet fleet.

In the first quarter, parent PAL Holdings Inc. reported that net income dropped by 23 percent to P3.6 billion as expenses soared due to busier operations.

READ: PAL readies $450-M war chest for expansion this year

The airline announced earlier this year the launch of its direct flights between Manila and Seattle by Oct. 2. This route will be offered thrice weekly.

In addition, the company is looking into reviving old routes, including Cebu-Osaka and Manila-Sapporo, this year to service the growing demand for flights to Japan.

The carrier is targeting to service around 16 million passengers this year as it targets to restore volume to the prepandemic level. Its passenger volume improved 58 percent to 14.68 million last year.