Flying High in Comfort and Style

CEBU, Philippines — Toulouse, France is the aviation headquarters not just for France, but for the entire Europe. This place is where our flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) decided to acquire six of the brand new Airbus A350-900 from Airbus Industries. Airbus and PAL have a long-standing, special relationship dating back to 1978 when PAL first ordered the A300B4, which was dubbed the “Lovebus.” Since that time PAL has been using Airbus aircrafts.

Today PAL flies the A320 Family, A330 and A340 – and, recently, acquired the A321neo and the A350 XWB last July! The airline has an Airbus fleet of forty-six aicrafts, seven A320, twenty A321, fifteen A330, four A340 and now the first of the newest Airbus A350-900. The Airbus company has already delivered 182 of this new Airbus plane to other airlines; 882 have actually been ordered, which means a backlog of 700.

The airlines that have ordered chose the A350, because it has a remarkable 99.2 percent Operational Reliability, thanks to its efficient design. It has 25 percent better fuel-burn capability and a low cash operating cost as compared to previous generation aircrafts.

The A350-900 uses a Rolls-Royce Trent XWB, considered the world’s most efficient large aero-engine today. The plane has mobile and Wi-Fi networks, LED ambient lighting with 16 million colors, and all seats have a television set. Other features include higher ceilings, greater legroom 18-inch seat width, wide panoramic windows, and quiet twin-aisle cabin.

After the blessing of the PAL A350-900 at the Airbus Terminal in Toulouse, the plane took the 12-hour flight from France to Manila, arriving on July 15. It (including us on the flight) was given a welcome shower by fire trucks of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). PAL president and CEO Dr. Jaime Bautista told the media that this plane would be used for the Manila-to New-York non-stop flight. Indeed with PAL’s newest A350-900 and five more planes coming, PAL has truly become the four-star airline it has raised itself to be.

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