Philippine Airlines (PAL) reactivated its Airbus A321CEO on Sunday, July 23, after being on parked status during the pandemic, the first of five parked aircraft in its fleet of 75.
The reactivation was part of ongoing initiatives to strengthen the PAL Group's fleet network and operational efficiency, spokesperson Cielo Villaluna stated.
Upon arrival in Manila from Clark, the aircraft went through the process of standardization and documentation in preparation for its return to service.
The 199-seater aircraft, with registry RP-C9925, was used for flight PR488, which departed Kalibo at 2:25PM and arrived in Seoul (Incheon) at 7:50PM (local time).
The aircraft also flew PR493 from Seoul (Incheon) to Manila at 8:30PM (local time) yesterday.
PAL maintains a fleet of 75 aircraft (46 for PR and 29 for 2P).
Of the 75, the flag carrier has a total of 5 parked aircraft, 3 PAL A321 NEOs and 2 PALex A320 CEOs.
The NEOs are parked awaiting delivery of Pratt and Whitney engines while the CEOs are awaiting engines and parts as well.
The parked aircraft represents only 7 percent of the PAL Group fleet.
"We have pro-actively reduced our schedules since the beginning of the year and improved our spares provisioning," according to Villaluna.
Already, PAL started sourcing additional engines for lease and is adding aircraft to its fleet network.
"We look forward to further strengthening our fleet with the delivery of brand new Airbus A350 - 1000s starting 2025," she concluded.
"We look forward to further strengthening our fleet with the delivery of brand new Airbus A350 - 1000s starting 2025," she concluded.