Kudos to PAL Express; more power to Aboitiz
For tonight’s special presentation on Straight from the Sky, we bring you once again the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (CCCI) which celebrates its 95 years of existence as it was established in 1913 with Don Ramon Aboitiz Sr. as its first president. With us are the new set of officers led by President Dr. Edward Gaisano, External Vice-President Lito Fruelda, Director Jay Yuvallos and their Executive Director Theresa Pono.
As one of the “old” members of the Chamber, I can attest to the fact that it has turned from the social club that it used to be to one that truly serves the business community in
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Philippine Airlines (PAL) will be launching this morning its latest product dubbed “PAL Express” with the use of brand new prop-jet aircraft Q300 and Q400 from Bombardier Aerospace. PAL Express will be using the
You can say that PAL Express is PAL’s way of returning to those old, so-called “Missionary routes” which PAL had developed many years ago, even though at that time most of these routes were not really financially viable. But with the country’s current boom in the Tourism Industry, many of these routes have become money makers. As PAL returned from the brink of bankruptcy, their new fleets did not have the aircraft to fly into these routes, thus it gave an opening for other airlines to fly into these routes, most of which are using turbo-prop aircraft.
However almost exactly a year ago, PAL signed a contract with Bombardier Aerospace to purchase Bombardier Q300 and Q400 Jet-prop airliners and has taken an option for three more airplanes. I gathered that this initial order would cost approximately US$56 million. With PAL Express, it is only right for PAL to “cash in” on these old missionary routes, after all they did bring aviation into these places.
From my interview a couple of months ago with PAL President and CEO Jaime Bautista, PAL Express Q400 will be fitted with 68 to78 seats and will have a Noise and Vibration Suppression (NVS) system, which promises its passengers excellent comfort and safety. As the Q300 is the smaller aircraft, it will fly the Cebu-Caticlan route, while the Q400 designated PR295 will take off at
Actually these new Bombardier Q Series of Prop-jets reminds me of the old F-27 Fokker aircraft that used to be the mainstay of PAL’s domestic fleet. But the Q Series is what is known as the NextGen turbo-props having a more spacious interior with larger overhead bins and with its Active Noise and Vibration Suppression (ANVS) system. It’s a quieter and smoother plane that gives a higher comfort to its passengers. So with PAL Express you can say that PAL has upped the ante against the competition between the other domestic carriers. So a warm welcome to PAL Express and more power!
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As of this writing, I will be in
I can’t give you the figures that AEV Chairman Jon Aboitiz usually reports to their stockholders but gauging on the AEV income reports that we gathered a couple of weeks ago, congratulations are in order for the Aboitiz family for having a net income of P1.18 billion just on the first quarter of 2008, which is up by 9% over last year for the same period. AP also accounted for the bulk of AEV’s income contributing some 67%, while the banking group (Union Bank and City Savings Bank) contributed 21%. The Food group led by Pilmico gave a 14% income share, while the transport group was the only negative report. This is quite understandable due to high fuel costs.
I’m sure that AEV will be reporting record breaking incomes for their company. But interesting times are still ahead of us because AP has set aside P10 billion for investments in new power plants earmarked for this year till the year 2011. AP President and CEO Erramon Aboitiz said that this amount represented the company’s share in the capital needed for the recently acquired five power plants. More power to AEV and AP and the Aboitiz family.
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