PAL scores another victory: Toulouse is to Win

A modern city that blends a strong Medieval flavor with a future-perfect aerospace industry, Toulouse is where Philippine Airlines staged its latest win: an Airbus A330-300, the vanguard of the 20 such units that will beef up its fleet.

“This is a milestone for Philippine Airlines,” said PAL president Ramon Ang of the delivery of the A330-300. “We now start the next phase of our fleet renewal, anchored on new generation A330-300s.”

In all, 65 aircraft, worth $9.5 billion, were ordered last year in what is the largest aircraft purchase in Philippine history. The order includes 45 A321s and 20 A330-300s, for delivery between 2013 and 2019.

Last August, PAL had taken in delivery of two A321s.

“This aircraft enables PAL to open up new frontiers in our rapidly growing network as well as in service innovations for our passengers,” stressed Ang.

 And what a way to secure this victory! Toulouse is the center of the European aerospace industry, with the headquarters of Airbus, Galileo positioning system, the SPOT satellite system, EADS, ATR and the Aerospace Valley, considered as a global cluster.

Airbus in Toulouse houses the final assembly lines for all Airbus families, the A320, the A330 long-range family, the A380 family, and the all-new A350 XWB family.

 On the tarmac of the Airbus Delivery Center in Toulouse, not far from the city center, the A330-300 stood gleaming with the Philippine tricolor on its tail and the word PHILIPPINES emblazoned on its fuselage. This handsome sight (actually, the plane was described by a colleague as “sleek and sexy”) brought a catch to my throat — it was a moment of pride for me, as a Filipino, and as a passenger. Reaching new altitudes has become more than just a figure of speech.

On the tarmac, the new A330-300 was blessed by French Catholic priest Fr. JD Delgues with an olive branch dipped in holy water. Proudly standing beside him were the PAL executives who flew to Toulouse for the turnover of the new plane: senior vice president for operations  Ismael Augusto Gozon, OIC of PAL corporate communications Mary Jane Llanes, assistant vice president for government affairs Josen Perez de Tagle, PAL domestic sales OIC Salvador Britanico Jr.

 â€œLet us be eternally grateful to Him, because we owe everything to Him. Man has found how to overcome gravity and ascend into the air because of his creative genius and technical abilities,” the priest reminded all those who attended the blessing, which included some 18 media men from the Philippines and PAL head of external communications Cielo Villaluna and administrative officer Carmela Prospero.

Amen to that.

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“Indeed, we are old friends,” Gozon told Airbus executives led by Jean-Francois Laval, executive vice president for Asia. “The partnership between PAL and Airbus goes back 35 years, to 1978, when we ordered our first A300-B4, making PAL the second Asian airline and first in Southeast Asia to order Airbus aircraft.”

“For heavily travelled routes, the A330s being taken by PAL are the latest enhanced versions of what has become one of the world’s most popular wide-body aircraft, with over 1,250 already sold and more than 1,000 flying with almost 100 airlines worldwide,” Laval said.

After a champagne toast and assorted canapés, we soared over the Mediterranean in the brand new plane, landing in Manila exactly 13 hours later. In control was Capt. Butch Generoso, the chief of the A330 and 340 pilots.

The very same plane took off last Tuesday on PAL’s inaugural flight to Abu Dhabi, marking PAL’s return to the Middle East. The A330-300 cabin accommodates 414 passengers, configured into two classes — Premium Economy with 39 seats, and Economy, with 375 seats.

PAL has specified the Trent 772B-60 engine from Rolls-Royce to power its A330-300 fleet.

Amidst centuries-old brick buildings and cobblestoned squares, and hangars in the Airbus factory that are the size of 11 football fields, PAL scored its latest victory.

As Gozon pointed out, “This aircraft is destined to be a game changer for PAL — enabling us to open up new frontiers.”

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