Founded in 1941 by a group of leading Philippines businessmen, Philippine Airlines is the national carrier of the Philippines and one of the oldest airlines in Asia. We take a look at the airline’s current fleet to see which planes are the oldest.
Headquartered in the city of Pasay, just south of Manila, Philippine Airlines operates from its primary hub at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL). The full-service carrier also flies from Mactan–Cebu International Airport (CEB) on Cebu, Francisco Bangoy International Airport (DVO) on Davao and
Clark International Airport (CRK) 43 miles northwest of Manila. Its wholly-owned subsidiary, PAL Express, operates regional routes using a fleet of 26 Airbus and DeHavilland Canada DHC-8 Dash 8s.
Philippine Airlines used to be one of Asia’s biggest airlines
Before the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Philippine Airlines was one of Asia’s largest airlines with a bright future ahead of it. Following several years of losses, Philippine Airlines got together with a group of banks and arranged a $1 billion loan for new planes. With money now, not a problem; Philippine Airlines placed orders with Boeing and Airbus for eight Boeing 747-400s, eight Airbus A330-300s, four Airbus A340-300s, two Airbus A340-200s, and twelve Airbus A320–200’s.
The 1997 Asian financial crisis hurt Philippine Airlines. Photo: Getty Images.
When the government of Thailand decided to unpeg the Thai Baht from the dollar in 1997, it triggered a financial meltdown in Asia. The crisis’s effect on the Philippines was not as bad as it was on some of its neighbors, but with Philippine Airlines regional exposed, the impact was severe. The airline was forced to stop all flights to Europe and the Middle East and all domestic flights except those operated out of Manila.
Philippine Airlines went into receivership
Slashing its workforce and reducing its fleet size Philippine Airlines went…
