PHILIPPINE Airlines (PAL) started deploying the highly sophisticated Airbus A321neo jet to Brisbane, Australia, on July 2, the fastest nonstop service on the route.
The maiden flight carried 151 Brisbane-bound passengers, arriving on July 3, 15 minutes ahead of schedule. The return flight had 155, leaving only one empty seat on the 156-seater airplane, PAL Spokesman Cielo Villaluna said.
The flag carrier’s first A321neo, fitted with two powerful Pratt & Whitney GTF engines, covered the more than 5,800-kilometer (km) distance between Manila and Brisbane in less than eight hours.
The game-changing A321neo, which has a maximum range of over 7,400 km, has enhanced cabin features, including 12 full-flat business-class seats, 156 economy seats with wider legroom, in-seat TV monitors on all seats, free Wi-fi connection (subject to time and volume limits), further reduced noise levels and myPAL eSuite to access more inflight entertainment selections.
PAL’s single-aisle jet service to Brisbane every Monday has been added to the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday departures from Manila. With the fourth frequency, PAL now operates a total of 16 weekly flights to three points in Australia—Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
For delivery are six A321neos until 2019. The first and second arrived in May and June 2018.
PAL first flew to Brisbane on June 5, 1981, using a DC-10 tri-jet. Service was suspended in 1998. It briefly reopened in 2009 until 2010. The service resumed in May 2013, using the A320-200 with a stopover in Darwin. The flights were upgraded last March 2018 to the four-engine A340-400.
PAL’s recent operations to Australia have utilized the wide-body Boeing 777-300ER and A340-400. Current service to Sydney and Melbourne use the tri-class A330-300. Advancements in jet engine technology have made the fuel-efficient A321neo ideal for medium-range routes with medium-size traffic.
PAL has been flying to Australia for more than 50 years. A PAL DC-8 first landed in Sydney in October 1965. Other destinations previously served include Darwin, Perth and Cairns.
About 304,000 Filipinos reside or work throughout Australia, 21,000 of whom were in Brisbane as of 2016.