Philippine Airlines’ new flagship Airbus A350-1000 set to take flight

Manila Bulletin

Philippine Airlines (PAL) held a media presentation for its new Airbus A350-1000 at the Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, France on June 20, 2025 — marking a bold new chapter in the flag carrier’s future. PAL President Richard Nuttall, Executive Vice President and COO Atty. Carlo Luis Fernandez, and Director Sheila Pascual led the event.   The A350-1000 will seat 382 passengers in total: 42 in Business Class, 24 in Premium Economy, and 316 in Economy — offering a new level of comfort for PAL’s long-haul flights. The first aircraft will be delivered in December 2025, with eight more to follow through 2028.

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00:00No, so I think that I've been in Philippine Airlines for just coming up for two months

00:05and I think the first thing I've noticed about the airline is that I think it is in a much better place

00:11and the product is way better than I think even the airline itself understands.

00:16And I think the 350-1000 is just going to take it to a new level

00:20and I think it's going to give us an airline and a product that we can all be really, really proud of

00:26and that reflects not just well for the airline but is a great ambassador for the country as well.

00:31It's definitely a step up for us and we're all very excited in PAL about this new aircraft.

00:38We believe that it puts us in a place where we will be able to compete aggressively with competition.

00:45It provides our passengers with a world-class product and so yes, it's a very exciting time for us.

00:54It's continuing that there's a lot of capacity in the market at the moment

00:58and the challenge for us there is it's really driving fares lower.

01:03I mean it's good for the consumer but from an airline perspective it's become very challenging.

01:07So once you have all of this competition in the market bringing in a lot of capacity

01:12then it becomes a challenge for the entire industry.

01:16Well, I think that sustainability is huge for the airline industry and the industry has pledged to try and get to net zero by 2050

01:26although that's going to need collaboration of many of the partners in the industry including governments and manufacturers.

01:32But the A350-1000 is a huge step forward so it's basically 25% fuel saving so that's great for us in terms of efficiency

01:41but it also is 25% less carbon dioxide emissions for the same passenger so it's a really big step forward.

01:52And I guess engine technology in the new aircraft is the best way to reduce the footprint quickly?

02:00Well, several things.

02:01Number one, from a service perspective.

02:05Obviously, our motto is Buong Pusong Alaga, care that comes from the heart.

02:10And we want our product to reflect that.

02:13We want customers to be first our priority.

02:19And so from a product perspective, we would like them to have the best product that we can provide.

02:26A good experience in flight.

02:30And so those are the things from a service perspective and from a product perspective.

02:40And so those are the things from a service perspective.

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