Flying high: PAL doubled 2023 net income to P16B

The operator of Philippine Airlines (PAL) doubled its profit in the past year after flying more passengers, signaling a sustained momentum for air travel demand post-pandemic lockdown.

On Monday, PAL Holdings Inc. reported that its net income attributable to parent company had grown to P16.25 billion last year from P8.16 billion in 2022, supported by total revenues rising by 28.64 percent to P179.12 billion.

Passenger revenues for the period soared by 39 percent to P159.58 billion, thanks to better flying operations for both business and leisure.

Last year, PAL flew 14.68 million passengers, showing 58-percent upswing from 9.31 million in 2022. Its flights increased by 36 percent to 105,294 for the period.

Passenger load factor improved to 80.8 percent last year from 72 percent in 2022.

Passenger load factor measures the percentage of available seating capacity in an aircraft. A higher figure means higher occupancy or more tickets sold.

Flying operation expenses were up 12.8 percent to P9.23 billion last year after servicing more flights.

Bulk or 45.3 percent of the total costs was due to jet fuel consumption, which climbed by 8 percent. PAL sources its jet fuel from Petron Corp., Shell Pilipinas Corp. and Chevron Philippines, among others.

As of end-2023, PAL had an 84-jet fleet.

The Lucio Tan-led airline is expecting delivery of 13 Airbus 321-231 neo (new engine option) aircraft between 2026 and 2029. It also set to receive nine Airbus A350-1000 jets between 2025 and 2027.

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The carrier relaunched 13 routes last year, including Beijing, Shanghai, Xiamen and Jinjiang.

Currently, PAL flies to 39 international destinations and 33 domestic locations.

Last December, PAL inked a code-share partnership with American Airlines, beefing up its transpacific service. The airline said its “PR” code has been placed on American carrier’s flights between Los Angeles and Atlanta, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, Orlando and Washington D.C.

The flag carrier also collaborated with Singapore Airlines last year for a code-share deal for flights to Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Milan, Paris, Rome and Zurich.

“PAL’s corporate transformation continues—we are taking in new aircraft, retrofitting cabins of current aircraft, upgrading airport lounges and introducing more product innovations to address our strategic, financial and operational needs across all areas of our operations,” PAL president and chief operating officer Stanley Ng said.