After more than seven months, Philippine Airlines (PAL) will be redeploying its Airbus A330-300 aircraft to Sydney and Melbourne. To recall, PAL had wet-leased two A330-200s from Wamos Air for flights between Sydney and Melbourne from Manila. However, these Wamos Air aircraft are gradually concluding their services for PAL. As of January, PAL’s own A330s have already returned to operate five weekly flights between Manila and Melbourne.
PAL is set to deploy its A330s to Sydney on flight PR 213 from Manila to Sydney and PR 214 beginning February 1 of this year, utilizing the tri-class configured A330 featuring a Premium Economy class. This marks the return of PAL A330 to Sydney.
In comparison to the 288-seater A330-200 from Wamos Air, PAL’s A330-300 has a seating capacity of 309 with a tri-class configuration. Its business class uses 18 Thompson Vantage XL full-flat seats arranged in a direct-aisle 1-2-1 configuration. The Premium Economy section is equipped with 24 Zodiac 5810 seats that offer 38 inches of legroom and a 2-3-2 configuration. Economy class features a 2-4-2 layout. All of PAL’s tri-class A330s are equipped with seat-back in-flight entertainment systems, while Wamos Air’s planes are set up in a dual-class configuration.
PAL Australian Flights
PAL currently operates the largest network of routes between Manila and Australia. In addition to Sydney and Melbourne, PAL also offers three weekly flights to Perth and daily flights to Brisbane. While Sydney and Melbourne are serviced by PAL’s A330s, Perth and Brisbane flights are operated by PAL’s A321neos. Before the pandemic, these A321neos occasionally flew between Manila and Sydney, making it the longest A321-family flight at that time and the longest narrowbody flight in Southeast Asia. PAL will be using the A330 on flights to Sydney.
Over the years, PAL has served Australia with a diverse fleet of aircraft, including Boeing 777s, 747s, A330s, A321neos, and DC-10s, MD-11s, and DC-8s. PAL began flying to Australia on October 6, 1965, using DC-8s. The airline previously flew to Auckland, New Zealand, via Cairns with DC-8s and provided flights to Darwin from 2013 to 2018, where it served as a stopover for Manila to Perth flights. Now, the PAL A330 Sydney route ensures continued connectivity.
