PAL asks for additional seat allocation to Australia

Business World
November 5, 2012
By C. H. C. Venzon

FLAG CARRIER Philippine Airlines (PAL) has asked for more seat allocations to Australia, according to a letter the company sent the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) early last month.

“We respectfully refer to our letter petition dated 06 July 2012, requesting for an additional seat allocation of 604 seats on the trunk route to/from Australia,” PAL said in its letter, dated Oct. 3.

PAL said the additional entitlements will be used particularly for flights to “Darwin, Sydney, and Melbourne” starting Dec. 10.

CAB Hearing Examiners Division Chief Ma. Elben S. L. Moro said in an interview on Tuesday last week that the regulator has yet to set a hearing date for PAL’s request.

If granted, the 604 additional seats will be added to current 3,194 seats presently allocated to PAL, bringing the airline’s total seats to Australia to 3,798.

PAL currently flies the Manila-Melbourne route three times a week, while it operates the Manila-Sydney route four times a week.

The regulator has so far allocated a total of 4,454 seats to Australia, consisting of 3,194 for PAL and 1,260 for Cebu Pacific, CAB records show. PAL, however, is the only local carrier presently flying to Australia.

PAL’s petition forms part of expansion announced by San Miguel after it assumed in April the management of the airline following its $500-million acquisition of a 49% stake in the flag carrier and its low-cost sister carrier Airphil Express.

PAL will also be expanding routes to Canada starting Nov. 30 with flights to Toronto besides Vancouver. PAL announced last month it will be flying the Manila-Toronto route three times a week, besides Manila to Vancouver four times a week, to take advantage of Toronto’s “diverse population and booming economy,” the company said in a statement last month.

PAL received its third Boeing 777-300ER in July, with another one coming before yearend and another two arriving next year, as part of a deal with the US plane maker involving the acquisition of six units of this make.

The company had also ordered a total of 64 aircraft from European plane-maker Airbus in August and September in deal worth $9.5 billion. These aircraft will be delivered from next year to 2015.

PAL Holdings, Inc., the parent of PAL, posted a comprehensive income of P489.25 million for its first quarter ending in June, a turnaround from the P475.14-million loss in the same period last year. Shares of PAL settled at P5.36 apiece when they were last traded on Wednesday last week, down 11 centavos or 2.01% from P5.47 on Tuesday. -- C. H. C. Venzon