Atin Ito First Filipino Community Newspaper in Ontario
At a Glance
- As travel recovery continues, Philippine Airlines (PAL) netted $250 million (P13.6 billion) earnings in the first half of 2023, triple its $70 million (P4.1 billion) earnings in the same period last year.
As travel recovery continues, Philippine Airlines (PAL) netted $250 million (P13.6 billion) earnings in the first half of 2023, triple its $70 million (P4.1 billion) earnings in the same period last year.
The flag carrier realized a $314 million (P17.4 billion) operating income versus $125 million (P6.6 billion) in the comparative period.
PAL carried 7 million passengers, 89 percent more, versus last year, operating 56 percent more flights – over 50,400 flights total, and averaged 81.6 percent passenger load factor.
Passenger revenues rose to $1.4 billion (P78.2 billion), or $0.6 Billion (P33.1 Billion) higher than 2022, as demand continues to recover on PAL’s international and domestic routes.
However, cargo revenues dropped 54 percent versus last year as the flag carrier discontinued many cargo charter flights to give way to more passenger flights to meet the surge in demand.
PAL’s EBITDA of $444 million (P24.2 billion) for the period was 82 percent higher than last year’s $244 million (P14.4 billion), with EBITDA margin increasing to 27.8 percent from 22 percent.
“PAL is on a recovery track and is now in a position to carry out major product and digital transformation initiatives to grow amid a more competitive and challenging aviation industry,” stated Lucio C. Tan III, President & Chief Operating Officer of PAL Holdings, Inc., the airline’s parent company.
“We remain steadfast in our commitment to invest in new aircraft, improved cabins, and enhanced travel experience for our valued customers,” according to PAL President and Chief Operating Officer Capt. Stanley K. Ng.
The fleet investments include the purchase of nine Airbus A350-1000 long-range jetliners, valued at more than $3.2 billion (P176.6 billion) based on the list price of $366.5 million per aircraft.
“The latest positive financial results enable us to build a better, stronger and more agile PAL that creates greater value for our customers,” Capt. Ng stressed.
PAL’s second quarter 2023 revenues grew by 27 percent to $820 million (P45.6 billion), largely due to higher passenger numbers.
Operating income increased by 95 percent to $179 million (P10 billion) versus $92 million (P4.8 billion) in the comparative period.
Accordingly, PAL finished the second quarter with a net income of $141 million (P8.1 Billion), almost tripling the $47.9 Million (P3.0 Billion) income registered in Q2 last year.
Furthetmore, PAL is increasing customer care and contact center agents and rolling out a new customer relations management system within 2023 to provide more personalized self-service options for customers.
In the first half of 2023, PAL restored flights on several routes to mainland China and launched nonstop services to Perth along with flights from Clark to Caticlan and Boracay.
In addition to an extensive network to 32 domestic destinations served from hubs in Manila, Cebu, Clark and Davao, the Philippine flag carrier operates the largest network of nonstop flights between the Philippines and North America, Japan, the Middle East and Australia.
“We are pleased to see that PAL is beginning to realize the benefits of the sacrifices we took over the past few years,” Tan concluded. — Emmie V. Abadilla
*****
Credit belongs to: www.mb.com.ph
