Philippine Airlines to use A350s on long-haul routes

Philippine Airlines , which expects the first of six Airbus A350-900s to be delivered by the second half of June, plans to deploy the new aircraft on long-haul routes later this year. The initial A350 will likely be flown on some routes around the Southeast Asia region initially, a PAL spokesman said. The aircraft will then be used for nonstop flights from Manila to New York JFK, replacing PAL’s one-stop service. PAL is tentatively looking at the last week of October for the New York A350 flight, which would be the start of the winter schedule season. PAL, which placed the order for six of the type in 2016, expects to receive four by the end of this year and the other two in 2019, the spokesman said. Other early A350 destinations will be London and Toronto. The A350 arrivals will allow PAL to phase out its remaining five A340-300s. This will not necessarily occur as one-for-one replacement when each A350 is delivered, and the retirement schedule is still being worked out, the spokesman said.<br/>