PAL gets new Boeing 777 passenger jet

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines has taken delivery of its newest Boeing 777-300 passenger jet, bringing its fleet of flagship long-range aircraft to three.

However, a dark cloud still hangs over the company, now controlled by conglomerate San Miguel Corp., given the country’s category 2 status with the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which prohibits local carriers from expanding their American operations.

“PAL’s brand-new Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft arrives in Manila from the US plane maker’s plant in Seattle, Washington,” the company said on its website.

“The third B777 in PAL’s wide body fleet, the new plane will immediately go into service across the Pacific and Australia, its first assignment,” the company said.

PAL said the new plane would be fielded first to flights to Australia. If and when the country regains its category 1 status with the FAA, the plane would immediately be transferred to US flights.

The Boeing 777 planes are significantly more efficient than PAL’s fleet of Boeing 747 jumbo jets. Using the new planes would allow PAL to make more money from its US flights, which are among the most profitable in its network.

The plane was officially received by PAL vice president for operations Ismael Augusto Gozon in a ceremony with Boeing field service manager Gary Youngblood at the Lufthansa Technik Philippines facility in Pasay.