Philippine Airlines: long haul adjustments - first, drop London?

Philippine Airlines (PAL) will likely follow Garuda Indonesia in suspending services to London, highlighting the challenges smaller Southeast Asian flag carriers confront in sustaining European services.

PAL is now considering instead launching services to Paris and is trying to secure a European airline partner to offer connections to London and other European destinations.

The Philippine carrier is probably better off dropping its European ambitions entirely and reducing the size of its widebody fleet. PAL is looking at acquiring more A350s or ordering 777Xs to replace its older model 777-300ERs, but should instead use upcoming lease returns as an opportunity to cut long haul capacity and improve profitability.

PAL has been serving London since late 2013, but the route has been consistently unprofitable despite aircraft, schedule and frequency changes. Garuda followed PAL by launching London in 2014 and is suspending the service in Aug-2019, following several ultimately unsuccessful route adjustments.