PHILIPPINE Airlines (PAL) is raising its capital expenditure (capex) by 164 percent this year to finance aircraft acquisition and maintenance.
Anna Isabel Bengzon, PAL chief financial officer and senior vice president, told reporters on Tuesday that the flag carrier had set aside about $450 million in capex this year, up from $170 million in 2023.
About 80 percent of the amount will be used for aircraft refurbishment, maintenance upgrade and payments for delivery, she added.
The capex will be funded through internally generated funds as well as from local and international lenders.
PAL recently acquired an additional 777-300 ER aircraft as a first step toward renewing its long-haul fleet.
"We are progressively renewing our fleet. We ordered nine Airbus A350 1000s for routes to North America, deliveries will start in 2025," said Carlos Luis Fernandez, PAL senior vice president and general counsel.
"[For] regional routes, [we will] take in 13 Airbus 321neos, delivery from 2026 to 2029," he added.
Fernandez also said that PAL would start flying from Manila to Seattle, USA, beginning October 2 this year.
It will be first carrier to link the Philippines and the US Pacific Northwest region with direct flights that will help stimulate business and leisure travel of US residents to the Philippines, he added.
Over 900,000 Americans visited the Philippines in 2023, making the US the country's second-largest source of tourists.
The Philippine flag carrier will also serve a growing number of Filipinos visiting family and friends in Washington and Oregon, which are home to more than 240,000 Filipino Americans.
"Our Manila-Seattle-Manila flights give us a valuable opportunity to promote our beautiful island country as a flourishing tourist and business destination for American travelers," PAL President and Chief Operating Officer Captain Stanley K. Ng said.
"We also look forward to serving Filipinos who hope to reunite with family members or experience new travel adventures in the vibrant US Pacific Northwest," he added.
The Seattle flights will provide connectivity via Manila to PAL's domestic and regional international network, including cities such as Cebu, Davao, Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur.
The new route will add up to 60 tons of cargo capacity every week that would further contribute to increased trade and economic activity between the United States and Asia.
Seattle is PAL's eighth destination in North America. The Philippine carrier already operates 46 weekly flights to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Vancouver, New York, Toronto, Honolulu and Guam.
PAL will use Boeing 777-300ER aircraft to serve Seattle, with full-flat seats in business class.
To promote the new Manila-Seattle service, PAL is offering a special introductory all-in roundtrip fare of $771 for economy and $3,071 for business class.
The introductory fare will be available until April 30, 2024 for travel from Oct. 2 to Nov. 30, 2024, as well as from February 1 to March 22, 2025.
Shares of the airline's parent firm PAL Holdings rose by 0.54 percent to P5.58 each on Tuesday amid a 0.28-percent drop in benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index.
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