Philippine Airlines (PAL) targets to exceed the over 16 million pre-pandemic passenger volume it logged in 2019 this year.
Last year, PAL flew 14.7 million passengers, 58 percent higher than the 9.3 million passengers in 2022, driven by the continued recovery of domestic and international operations.
Capt. Stanley Ng, PAL president and chief operating officer, recently told reporters passenger traffic is projected to increase by 10 to 20 percent this year compared to last year.
“We’re projecting about 10 to 20 percent growth. Maybe that number is (around 16 million),” he said.
In 2019, PAL carried 16.76 million passengers, but traffic volume significantly declined during the pandemic. It started to recover in 2022.
PAL has allocated $450 million for capital expenditure this year to finance its aircraft acquisition to support its network expansion.
PAL has acquired 22 aircraft, of which nine are Airbus A350-1000 long-range jetliners and 13 are Airbus 321neo. These aircraft are expected to be delivered from 2025 to 2026 to cater to the expansion in North America and other overseas destinations.
PAL and unit PAL Express operate 78 aircraft, up from 74 in 2022. By yearend, additional aircraft will be delivered.
PAL is set to launch nonstop flights between Manila and Seattle this October to address the growing number of Filipinos in Washington and Oregon, which are home to more than 240,000 Filipino Americans.
PAL reported a 92 percent growth in profit to P21 billion in 2023 from its P11 billion net income in 2022.
With the continued recovery of air travel post-pandemic, PAL posted a 37 percent surge in passenger revenues from P114 billion in 2022 to P160 billion in 2023.
Total net revenues, including cargo and ancillary revenues, grew by 27 percent from P139 billion to P181 billion.
The flag carrier operated 105,294 flights in 2023, a 36 percent growth from the 77,533 flights mounted in 2022, an increase of more than 27,000 flights.
