Air Philippines sets refleeting program
Monday, 05 October 2009 20:38
AIR Philippines, the low-cost partner of flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL), will undergo a refleeting program before the end of the year.
“Air Philippines will soon announce its refleeting plan since it is a separate company. It will operate on its own. It will be a whole new Air Phil.,” said PAL president Jaime Bautista.
Air Philippines is 99-percent owned by the Lucio Tan Group of Companies. PAL, on the other hand, is 95-percent owned by the group.
Air Philippines, for the moment, has ceased operations. “Yes, it has stopped flying the 737-200 jet aircraft because these consume more jet fuel than other types of aircraft. It needs to be replaced,” Bautista said.
PAL Express, another low-fare unit of PAL, is currently flying the routes assigned to Air Philippines, added Bautista.
Both PAL and Air Philippines, said the PAL executive, are looking to strengthen their operations with modest fleet and route network buildups despite predictions by the International Air Transport Association of a dip in industry earnings due to higher fuel prices.
The two airlines have had close complementation in their flight operations, feeding passengers into each other’s networks and ensuring seamless connections via their joint hubs at Naia Centennial Terminal 2 in Manila and Mactan International Airport in Cebu.
Bautista said the partnership of PAL and Air Philippines yielded operational synergies that enabled the alliance to deliver a superior product to passengers.
Air Philippines carried 254, 244 passengers in the first half of the year out of the possible 335,392 seats while PAL transported 3,207,060.
The company used to operate Bombardier Q300 turbo-prop aircraft but these are now being operated by PAL Express, which carried a total of 623,000 passengers from April 2008 to March 2009.
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Air Philippines sets refleeting program