MANILA, Philippines - Philippine Airlines (PAL), jointly owned by tycoon Lucio Tan and diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp., is seeking the green light to mount daily flights to Kuala Lumpur starting June.
In a petition filed before the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), PAL said it is seeking the re-allocation of 900 seats entitlement to Kuala Lumpur in accordance with the confidential memorandum of understanding entered into by the Philippines and Malaysia in June 2011.
The airline initially intends to fly to Kuala Lumpur four times a week using Airbus A319 between March 31 and May 31.
The frequency would be increased to daily flights starting June 1 using the bigger Airbus A320 or A321.
Early this month, PAL announced it would launch several flights to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Malaysia, Taiwan and China this year as it completes its major re-fleeting program where it intends to acquire an additional 100 aircraft.
The airline filed an application with the CAB for an authority to impose a $170 fuel surcharge on passengers of flights to Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the UAE, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as well as Doha in Qatar.
The flag carrier also intends to bill a fuel surcharge of $75 for passengers going to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, $55 for passengers flying to Guangzho in China and $50 for those going to Kaoshiung in Taiwan.
PAL, which is in the middle of a massive refleeting program, entered into a $7-billion deal with Toulouse-based EADS in August to acquire 54 new Airbus aircraft consisting of 34 A321ceo, 10 A321neo and 10 A330-300s that would be delivered starting next year.
The airline also exercised an option to acquire 10 more wide-bodied planes in another contract worth about $2.5 billion last September.
PAL is also looking at mounting flights to Istanbul in Turkey, Kuwait and Phonm Penh in Cambodia this year.
The airline currently maintains and operates 39 aircraft comprising of five Boeing B747-400s and three B777-300ERs as well as four Airbus A340-300s, eight A330-300s, 15 A320-200s and four A319-100s.
SMC, through San Miguel Equity Investments Inc., controls about 49 percent of Trustmark Holdings of PAL after infusing $500 million. Trustmark and affiliate Zuma Holdings own PAL Holdings and sister airline AirPhil Express.
PAL is set to push for the upgrade of the country’s safety rating back to Category 1 after it was downgraded by the US Federal Aviation Administration upon the recommendation of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to Category 2 in 2008.