PAL to acquire nearly $2-B worth of aircraft this year

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines on Tuesday said it expects delivery of 15 new aircraft valued at nearly $2 billion starting this year.

In an interview with reporters in Makati City, PAL president and COO Jaime Bautista said the four Airbus A350s, six Airbus A321s, and five Airbus Q400s will be delivered to the airline.

“Abutin ‘yun ng mga $2 billion. Almost $2 billion,” he said.

“We are taking delivery of more airplanes despite congestion in Manila, but there are other ways ... We are also increasing our presence in Cebu and Davao, and Clark will be a major hub in the coming months,” he said.

The government earlier said plans are afoot to decongest the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) by moving several aspects of operations to the Clark International Airport.

“We are looking at adding international flights out of Clark and Cebu. We have a plan on how we can continue to expand our operations, maximize operations, maximize utilization of airplanes, and fly to more destinations to more airports,” Bautista said. —VDS, GMA News