Philippine Airlines flies new business class to Sydney, Melbourne
By David Flynn, February 1 2017
Philippine Airlines will introduce all-new business class and premium economy seats on flights to Sydney and Melbourne from mid-year.
The airline is upgrading eight of its Airbus A330 jets with a full complement of premium cabins as it chases the business and corporate travel market along with well-heeled holidaymakers.
The new business class represents a substantial improvement over the dated recliners of Philippine Airlines' current Airbus A340s, which will be replaced by the A330s on both the Sydney-Manila and Melbourne-Manila routes.
Philippine Airlines new Airbus A330 business class
The 18 business class seats at the pointy end of the A330s will provide lie-flat comfort and direct aisle access through a 1-2-1 layout, and are based on the same Thompson Vantage XL platform (below) as the Qantas Business Suite, albeit in a less customised form.
(Qantas also flies its Business Suite-equipped A330s between Sydney and Manila.)
Creature comforts of the Vantage XL design include an 18.5 inch video screen and ample personal and working space around each seat.
Further back sits a 24-seat premium economy cabin, with the seats (below) 19 inches wide and spaced 38 inches apart, and as business class will include AC and USB power sockets plus a 13.3 inch video display.
The remaining 267 economy seats are 17 inches wide with a 32 inch pitch and a 6 inch recline, with 10.1 inch screens and USB power outlets at each seat.
Sydney, Melbourne go all-A330
The thrice-weekly flights between Melbourne and Manila will shift to an upgraded A330s by July 15, 2017, a spokesperson for Philippine Airlines told Australian Business Traveller.
The Sydney-Manila route will follow in August, with both the PR211/212 and PR213/214 flights switching to the refurb'd birds.
(Other A330 routes rolling out in the second half of this year include Honolulu, Singapore, Haneda, Tokyo/Narita and Osaka.)
Philippine Airlines is also eyeing non-stop Manila-Brisbane flights in 2018 once its new Airbus A321neo fleet arrives, removing the current Darwin stopover, and will also take delivery of six new Airbus A350-900 jets across 2018-2019 to expand its non-stop network with direct routes such as Manila to New York (via the Arctic region).
David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
10 Aug 2015
Total posts 117
Yeah this is one airline I would just not want to touch.
08 Nov 2013
Total posts 5
Just wondering, it mentions the economy class seats are 17' wide, is that narrower than normal a330's. I thought 17' was the tight size on 787's?
31 Jan 2017
Total posts 9
Would never ever travel with them again......bad experience.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
02 Mar 2013
Total posts 26
Good news for regular MNL biz travellers - certainly an uptick from the aged A340's and the reasonably new, but very poorly fitted out A330's.
13 Sep 2013
Total posts 117
Would never again with these guys!
Had the most ridiculous experience with PAL
They gave me a free return flight as compensation and I was like... sorry... don't think so!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
02 Mar 2013
Total posts 26
"S" - care to elaborate?
13 Sep 2013
Total posts 117
Long story short, overbooked flight by around 60 people. Waited in the queue at MNL for 4 hours. Sent us all via HK to get home via partner airline. Got to HK, no ticket waiting for us etc etc.
14 Jun 2013
Total posts 354
Great timing, my work will take me to Manila every few months of the 2017-2018 financial year. Still would prefer Qantas for the lounge and points but if my company insists on a lower fare that'll probably be PAL, at least I'll still have a decent seat.
01 Feb 2017
Total posts 2
No thanks. This is an awful airline.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
04 Nov 2011
Total posts 363
I travel to Manila a lot and this still wont be enough to get me on PAL.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
25 Sep 2013
Total posts 1252
Gosh PR really has a bad rep huh
31 Mar 2014
Total posts 372
I don't see why you are all so negative. PAL are obviously trying to better their product and move forward. This is a positive step. I get that they are not most peoples first choice, but they have their place in the market.
03 Jun 2016
Total posts 1
Agree. At least they're trying to improve their product. A perfect example where product and fleet improvements has worked well is Garuda
Singapore Airlines - The PPS Club
14 Nov 2013
Total posts 42
I agree with most here, this airline has a long way to go yet. What is truly shocking is the lounge in Manila, resembled an office cubicle environment!
31 Jan 2017
Total posts 9
Well they really have plenty of room for improvement & bettering their product. If there is a worse airline them I'm yet to fly them.
13 Sep 2016
Total posts 27
A lot better than the A340 business class but I would still prefer to fly with Qantas, their seat will still be better than this "off the shelf" design and of course a much better lounge at Sydney. Just a shame we can't use the excellent CX lounge at Manila because it's in a different terminal. :(
31 Jan 2013
Total posts 42
Last time I flew with PAL I had a DC10 to Manila, followed by a BAC111 to Cebu followed by a HS748 to Bohol. The BAC111 flight at 4.00am got airborne three times before it stayed airborne and the HS748 had wind whistling in through holes in the passenger door. What fun. Considering its an 8 hr flight to Manila, I'd definitely give their new J class a go, particularly as its on sale for under $1500 rt. Exceptional value for a flat bed cabin.
17 Sep 2015
Total posts 382
This article requires correcting. Between Manila and Melbourne, PR always uses its so-called high capacity A333s that in business class have a lie-flat 2-2-2 configuration. In contrast, Manila - Sydney and back uses a mix of A333s and the dated A343s.
17 Sep 2015
Total posts 382
Could the editor please correct the factual error in the article as I noted above almost 24 hours ago?
09 Mar 2017
Total posts 7
I'm booked to travel in September and am looking forward to trying the new business class product.
Japan Airlines - JAL Mileage Bank
23 Jan 2017
Total posts 1
In the middle of my journey from Melbourne to Taiwan, PAL in Manila asked for my credit card that was used to book my ticket. Long story short, My wife purchased the ticket online and so I did not have her credit card on me. Manila refused to issue me my next boarding pass to TPE unless I showed them my card. Since I could not, I had to buy another ticket. But get this - "sorry no seats available on the TPE flight" after I grudgingly agreed to buy the last remaining sector.
01 Jun 2017
Total posts 1
Would never fly any other Airline to Philippines. PAL, has been always good with me also allowed me sligtly over the required baggage limit without charge.
03 Aug 2017
Total posts 1
Its now Aug 2017, does anyone know if PAL have already rolled out their new business class seats on A330 to SYD and MEL ?
09 Mar 2017
Total posts 7
ex Mel PAL flight reservations are showing the new business class now with the aircraft that were tagged for upgrade. ex SYD still has a lot of the older 343 aircraft and aren't showing the upgraded 333 in flight reservations until early September.
17 Sep 2015
Total posts 382
I've been on the changed A333s of PR and they are great.
Asiana Airlines - Asiana Club
09 Feb 2017
Total posts 41
Haters gonna hate, we were making comments like those above about Garuda ten years ago
17 Sep 2015
Total posts 382
DennisL and David_G , the altered (and for the better) A333s now seem to be on every flight of PR209/210/211/212/213/214 i.e. all MNL - MEL and MNL - SYD and return flights.
31 Jan 2013
Total posts 42
Might be an A330-300 most days but not always the same configuration. My bro flew MNL/SYD J class a few days ago and 24hrs before travel they swapped a 1x2x1 for a 2x2x2. He was most unimpressed.
17 Sep 2015
Total posts 382
It's been very rare for the older, unsatisfactory configuration to be substituted to SYD and MEL for the past few weeks. This airline now has five refurbished aircraft carrying travellers so in theory even with maintenance requirements 99 per cent of the time it should be a 'new' A333.
09 Mar 2017
Total posts 7
I recently flew SYD x/MNL HKG x/MNL SYD. All sectors were on the new config 1/2/1 J class. PR has caught up to QF A330 for seat functions though the final finish is fairly basic. I had seat 2K for all legs. I did find the footwells small and fairly confined. The entertainment screen is a large 18.5 inches which was great. The selection of entertainment was fairly limited and the number of latest movies low. Food was average, drinks range was quite good though the premium only entry level. (ie gin offered was Gordons) the crew was very polite and attentive.
Lounges. In SYD PR use the SQ Silver Kris which is good. In MNL the Mahubay Lounge is in dire need of an update. More like a waiting room than a lounge. In HKG PR use Hong Kong VIP Lounge and is was excellent. A small menu of cooked to order dishes that were very tasty, a modest selection of quality drinks and several seating options of which I choose the chairmans reading seats that looked out across the airport at pilots level view.
I managed to get these flights for $1165 inc taxes person and at that price represented exceptional value.
31 Jan 2013
Total posts 42
It's not just PAL anyway. I'm flying to SYD/SIN in Dec on QF in a A330-200 with 2x2x2 angled seats. It's never good when they promote one configuration and you get stuck with the previous out-of-date one.
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