PAL Express cues takeover of own fleet’s maintenance

Photo from Lufthansa Technik Philippines

MANILA, Philippines – PAL Express, the regional arm of Philippine Airlines (PAL), is set to take over the maintenance of its own fleet, amid reports that Lufthansa Technik Philippines (LTP) is discontinuing its line maintenance operations.

While LTP has yet to confirm this change, PAL Express operations manager Jessie Peñaflor said in a social media post that “PAL Express aircraft maintenance will assume responsibility for the line maintenance of the Philippine Airlines fleet in the Philippines.”

The Inquirer has reached out to LTP, but it has yet to respond as of this writing.

READ: Lufthansa Technik Philippines to cut 300 jobs by April 

LTP had been PAL Express’ designated component support provider after the two companies signed a long-term agreement in July 2025 covering maintenance, repair and overhaul support for the airline’s Airbus A320 fleet.

PAL had 16 Airbus A320 aircraft dedicated to domestic operations as of the end of 2025.

This development comes despite LTP—the country’s largest aircraft maintenance provider—recently securing a new lease agreement covering its 226,000-square-meter facility at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia)

In a disclosure on Wednesday, the Lucio Tan-led MacroAsia Corp., which holds a 49-percent stake in LTP, said it signed a lease contract with New Naia Infra Corp. on May 12.

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This lease renewal is significant because MacroAsia had attributed the 59-percent decline in its first-quarter attributable net income partly to weaker equity earnings from LTP.

MacroAsia earlier said the sharp increase in lease rates under the new Naia operator weighed heavily on the maintenance provider’s earnings during the first quarter, as tenants are now charged around P710 per square meter monthly under the new setup. INQ