Page 13 - AAA MARCH - APRIL 2018 Online Magazine

has a bright and spacious feel due to the itive advantage in the hard fought regional transport aircraft
LED lighting and the cabin ambience lifts market. The Q400 is available in a Dual Class – 74 passenger
our mood and we are less fatigued after configuration, Single Class – 82 passenger configuration,
many flights in the day. Passenger feed- Maximum Capacity variant which can carry 90 passengers
back on the aircraft comfort has been very and a Combi version which can carry 50 passengers and
positive. The cabin baggage bins are also 9000Ib of cargo. In the 90 seat layout, the Q400 aircraft
bigger and this makes loading and unload- offers a per-seat fuel burn advantage of up to eight percent
ing of luggage and checking if the bins are and a seat cost advantage of up to 20 percent. Nok Air also
full, much easier for us.” operates 86 seat Q400s. The Q400 has always offered
PAL’s current aircraft fleet is well suited excellent performance and the newest aircraft can attain a
to target the growing Brunei Darussalam- maximum cruise speed of 667 km/h and a long-range cruise
Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East speed of 556 km/h. According to Bombardier, the aircraft
ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA), which can climb to 20,000 feet in 10 mins and reach 25,000 feet
is an important market for the airline. PAL is in 17 mins. Maximum range with 82 passengers onboard is
the only full service carrier in the Philippines 2,035 km. Airlines can also benefit from a 2,000 lb-increase
and now has a fleet of 88 airplanes. The in payload and enhanced A-Check and C-Check intervals
airline will induct its first A350 in June, fol- from 600/6,000 to 800/8,000 flight hours. These benefits
lowed by three more aircraft before the end will be available on aircraft delivered from this year.
of the year. PAL will add a total of 16 new
airplanes this year including six A321neos
and four Airbus A350-900s. The new
inductions are part of the airline’s strat-
egy formulated three years ago and this is
part of our long term plan. The airline’s first
A321neo is slated for delivery in March and
will be deployed on the PAL’s new Manila-
Brisbane nonstop route by May, followed
by non-stop flights from Manila to Sapporo,
New Delhi and Mumbai. The A321s will fea-
ture 12 full-flat Business Class seats and
168 seats in Business Class and Economy,
with in-seat video monitors.

Meeting Every Requirement
he Q Series turboprop aircraft
is touted by Bombardier as a
‘Network Builder’ and is the only
Taircraft in its class to offer up to
90 seats providing it an important compet-

ASIAN AIRLINES & AEROSPACE March/April 2018 | 13