Philippine Airlines (PAL) reported a total comprehensive income of P904.7 million for the first quarter of 2017, a significant downturn from P2.707 billion registered in the same period last year.
Total revenues for the first quarter climbed to P33.326 billion from P29.124 billion in the same period last year. The 14.4% improvement in revenues was primarily due to the increase in the number of passengers as a result of additional flight frequencies and new routes, PAL said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange.
Passenger revenues rose 12.7% to P27.781 billion from P24.648 billion in 2016. Revenues from cargo operations likewise improved, rising 23% to P1.807 billion from P1.465 billion.
Aggregate expenses for the quarter escalated to P34.352 billion, a 32.4% increment from the P25.949 billion posted in the same quarter the previous year. The increase in expenses reflected the higher expenses from flying operations, maintenance, aircraft and traffic servicing, reservation and sales, and passenger and general and administrative services.
PAL reported a 38.9% decline in net income in 2016 to P3.945 billion from P6.460 billion recorded in 2015.
As of December 2016, PAL’s international route network covered 42 cities in 18 countries, while domestic destinations covered 32 cities and towns in the Philippines, which are under codeshare and mostly operated by partner PAL Express).
Moving forward, PAL said it plans to acquire modern and technologically advanced aircraft, while refurbishing and reconfiguring the existing fleet in order to deliver added comfort and improve service offerings. The carrier aims to be the country’s full-service five-star airline in five years.
To reach this goal, it aims to implement flagship initiatives such as fleet modernization by acquiring six brand-new Airbus A3350s, which are for delivery starting mid-2018, and reconfiguring eight mono-class Airbus A330s to tri-class layout.
At present, PAL has a total of 81 planes consisting of A320s, A321s, A330s, A340s, and B777s.
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