Philippine Airlines (PAL) started utilizing today (June 18) its luxurious tri-class Airbus A330-343 on its non-stop flights from Manila to Auckland, offering passengers the fastest and most comfortable flight to New Zealand.
PAL Flight PR218 left Manila at 12:03 AM and touchdown in Auckland was at 12:51 pm (local time), marking the first flight of PAL’s premium-version A330 to New Zealand’s largest city. The refurbished A330 has 18 Business Class, 24 Premium Economy and 267 Regular Economy seats.
The thrice weekly service leaves Manila every Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. The return flight, PR219, departs Auckland Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays.
The first PAL A330 was warmly welcomed at Auckland International Airport, where guests, travel agents and media were given a tour of the aircraft’s spacious cabin. Several promotional activities were held in Auckland to announce the service upgrade prior to arrival of the A330.
The shift to the A330 on the Manila- Auckland route increases overall capacity by 22%, helping stimulate leisure and business travel.
In addition to the convenience of a 9-hour nonstop journey, travelers to Auckland will enjoy enhanced cabin amenities inside the A330. PAL replaced the original 414 economy seats with three new cabin sections, resulting in a more spacious cabin of only 309 seats, all fully-equipped with in-seat video monitors, offering wider legroom and fewer seats on each row.
The A330 features one of the most lavish Business Class offerings in the sky, with each full-flat seat offering direct access to the aisle, privacy dividers, ample shelf and storage space, enhanced reading lights, a pneumatic air cushion with massage functions, and huge 18.5-inch video screens. The RAVE Centric inflight entertainment system offers over 300 hours of movies, TV and music.
PAL’s A330 also introduces a new Premium Economy Class, featuring more legroom, special footrests and extra recline on wider seats in an exclusive private cabin. The bigger 13.3-inch personal video screens and enhanced meal selections on plated dishes promise higher levels of comfort and service.
The A330 Economy cabin has just eight seats per row in a more spacious layout, each with 10.1-inch video screens and a choice of up to 150 movies along with handy new applications for more entertainment, information and reading options.
Auckland is now the latest destination to be served by the 309-seater premium version of the twin-engine A330 jet, joining other PAL destinations utilizing the reconfigured A330 such as Honolulu, Sydney, Melbourne, Tokyo, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Singapore and Osaka.
But the most distinguishing feature of the PAL service is the Buong Pusong Alaga (wholehearted service) extended by the crew and ground staff to every passenger. PAL credits its brand of warm and caring service, together with a fleet of new aircraft and expanding route network, for the decision of global rating organization Skytrax to award a 4-Star rating last February to Philippine Airlines.
PAL, considered “Asia’s First Airline” – established 77 years ago, plans on rolling out more new aircraft (including the Airbus A350 next month for ultra-long-range routes to North America and Europe) and a series of product and service innovations, in line with its aspiration to rejoin the league of the world’s best airlines.