Philippine Airlines Part 3: more USA growth planned, as A350s arrive and partnerships are pursued

Philippine Airlines (PAL) is seeking to improve its position in the North American market by boosting capacity and partnering with a US airline. PAL has been able to increase its presence in the US since the FAA upgraded the Philippines to a Category 1 safety rating in 2014, enabling PAL to increase capacity, launch new routes and pursue codeshares with US airlines.

PAL launched services from Cebu to Los Angeles in Mar-2016 and in the coming weeks is planning to add capacity on Manila-Los Angeles - one of its largest and most profitable international routes - using a newly delivered 777-300ER. PAL may also add capacity to San Francisco in 2017 and is planning to use its new A350-900 fleet to launch nonstop flights to New York, and potentially Chicago, in 2018.

PAL also has begun searching for a US partner to help it feed an expanded US operation. Securing a US partner is key to supporting further growth and further boosting its share of the Philippines-US market as competition intensifies.