The PAL-Airbus story

This story began in a charming French city nicknamed La Ville Rose, the one with pinkish terracotta bricks, cobblestone streets, and small French cafes; the one which the Visigoths conquered during the Dark Ages; the one where old slaughterhouses have long been forgotten, their smears of blood now covered with art, and the one where the 16th century arched bridge Pont Neuf glistens under the setting sun. It’s like Paris on slow motion, without the hustle and bustle, just all the charm and the bottles of rosé.

This is Toulouse, the capital of the region of Occitanie in southern France.

And it is here, the home of European airplane giant Airbus, where a chapter of Philippine Airlines’ rich, long history unfolded.

The year was 1978, a year of phenomenal breakthroughs – the first test tube baby, the first cellular phone, and when Bee Gees’ Stayin’ Alive broke records in the charts. 

The Lovebus

Indeed, it was also a phenomenal time for PAL and Airbus because that year, PAL made its very first order from Airbus, the A300B4.

Dubbed the “Lovebus,” PAL’s first aircraft arrived in Manila in 1979, said Joost van der Heijden, Airbus vice president for marketing for Asia and North America.

Since that time, Airbus aircraft have been operated continuously by the airline.

Now, the Lucio Tan-owned carrier flies the A320 family, A330 and A340.

Forty years later, the story continues.

I learned about the PAL-Airbus history during my visit to Toulouse last week as part of the delegation that included PAL’s top brass and local and foreign journalists. The group fetched PAL’s latest addition to its fleet, the Airbus A350.

PAL made history last week after landing its first Airbus A350-900, a sleek and shiny, hulking white airplane, which touched down at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport around 2 p.m. on Sunday after a 13-hour journey from the Airbus Delivery Center in Toulouse.

Upon arrival in Manila, the plane received the water canon salute, a touching airport tradition. It was a fitting welcome to the new plane, which is among the best I’ve experienced.

Eric Schulz, Airbus chief commercial officer, trumpeted the new plane.

“This airplane is a fantastic plane,” Schulz said during the delivery dinner held last Friday in Toulouse’ Les Abbattoirs, a glittering museum of modern and contemporary art.

It was the perfect place to hold the momentous delivery dinner, held on the eve of the 229th Bastille Day.

A burst of colors – pink, blue, yellow and red – decorated the walls, adding glamour to the event. I couldn’t imagine that the same place was used as a slaughterhouse centuries and centuries ago.

Notes from the cabin

Schulz wasn’t kidding. As I experienced first hand, the business class cabin is very comfortable and spacious.

It’s not called an A350-XWB – extra wide body – for nothing.

The cabin is not cramped at all with 30 seats arranged in a one-two-one configuration. This gives every single passenger direct access to the aisle – no need to jump over other passengers just to get to the aisle.

There are also no overhead bins in the middle portion of the cabin, providing a higher ceiling.

The seat pitch is at 44 inches. Seat width is up to 24 inches. The best part is that it reclines to a full-flat bed measuring 78 inches in length.

The cabin also has special soft LED mood lighting, which gives passengers a more intimate in-flight experience to help them adjust to time zone and day versus night changes.

But it doesn’t stop there. I was also thrilled to see that the entertainment system is now a much larger 18 inch screen and has 150 movies to choose from.

Game changer

PAL president and COO Jaime Bautista said the A350 is a game changer and would help the four-star airline attain its goal to become a five-star carrier.

“I am proud and happy to welcome the Airbus A350 fleet to the PAL family. The aircraft is a game changer in the industry with their greater range, lower fuel burn emissions and lower operating costs,” he said in his acceptance speech.

PAL’s A350 is setting a new standard by allowing the flag carrier to fly nonstop almost halfway around the world on the longest routes ever to be served by a Philippine carrier. The A350 will be deployed on the nonstop Manila-New York JFK and Manila-London Heathrow routes by the end of October 2018, he said.

In all, PAL has placed six firm orders for the Airbus A350-900s, and options for an additional six A350s. There will be new routes including Seattle, Chicago, and a point in Western Europe with the additional A350s.

After all these, I’m betting there will be more.

As Airbus’ Schulz said in jest, his goal is to transform PAL’s fleet into an all–Airbus fleet.

Kapitan turns 83

PAL chairman Lucio Tan, the resilient El Kapitan as he is known in the business community, turns 83 today. He will celebrate his birthday by rolling out the new Airbus A350 and A321 Neo.

Kudos to PAL and Airbus!

Indeed, the story began in Toulouse; the year was 1978.  Forty years later, the story continues.

Iris Gonzales’ e-mail address is [email protected].