Overview
Founded back in 1941, Philippine Airlines has main hubs located in Manila and Cebu City. In Manila, they have the Ninoy Aquino International Airport while in Cebu City, they have the Mactan-Cebu International Airport. Mabuhay Miles is the airline’s frequent flyer program and the Mabuhay Lounge is its member lounge. The airline has several subsidiaries as well, including Air Philippines and PAL Express. The fleet size of Philippine Airlines reaches approximately 47 aircraft units, which travel to over 50 destinations all over the globe. Operating under its parent company, PAL Holdings, Inc., the airline’s headquarters is situated at Pasay City, Philippines. The airline itself operates in accordance with the company slogan, “With Us, You’re Always Number 1.”
Company Profile and History
Commonly abbreviated as PAL, Philippine Airlines started out as Philippine Air Lines when operations first commenced. Being the national airline of the Philippines itself, Philippine Airlines acquired the reputation of being the first ever commercial airline in Asia. Moreover, it is also the oldest amongst all airlines that are currently operating all over Asia.
The airline has quite a long history, amounting to more than 60 years’ worth of experience already. From its main hubs located in the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and the Mactan-Cebu International Airport, the airline caters to domestic and international flights to approximately 18 destinations in the Philippines, as well as 26 destinations in East Asia, Southeast Asia, Canada, Australia, and the United States of America.
Historically, it was the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis that severely affected the airline. This is quite an unfortunate mark for the airline, wherein it was even dubbed to be one of the largest ever corporate failures that any Philippine company ever had to endure. During this time, Philippine Airlines was forced to do some downsizing of its international operations. As a result, they had to cut operations to Europe completely. Even worse is that operations to Southwest Asia were also completely cut. Fleet size was significantly reduced and thousands of Philippine Airlines employees became jobless overnight.
Philippine Airlines Fleet
- Airbus: A319-100, A320-200, A330-300, and A340-300
- Boeing: 747-400, 747-400M, and 777-300ER
- Bombardier: Bombardier Dash 8 300 and Bombardier Dash 8 400
Philippine Airlines Destinations
The airline’s destinations include the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of (Taiwan) China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Philippines (Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao), Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, North America, Canada, the USA, Oceania, Australia, and Guam.
