Philippine Airlines (PAL) continues to recover from the pandemic, reporting its third profitable quarter in a row. Philippine Airlines produces another profitable quarter.
The parent company PAL Holdings produced a PHP 4.9 billion ($86.8 million) operating income during Q3. The pre-tax profit was PHP 4.3 billion compared to PHP -5.0 billion in the same quarter of last year. The net profit attributable to shareholders is PHP 3.2 billion versus PHP -5.3 billion last year.
Revenues increased to PHP 40.4 billion, up from PHP 14.1 billion. Without specifying the number of passengers carried, the airline says that passenger revenues were up by 99.8 percent year on year. Cargo and ancillary revenues improved by 34.9 percent.
Operating expenses soared to PHP 35.2 billion from PHP 15.9 billion, mainly attributable to high fuel prices which are “a persistent concern for the aviation industry”, PAL says in a media statement on November 11.
Between January and September, PAL Holdings reported a PHP 11.5 billion operating income and a pre-tax profit of PHP 8.7 billion versus PHP -21.6 billion last year. The net profit is PHP 6.7 billion versus PHP -21.8 billion. Total revenues were up to PHP 97.8 billion from PHP 32.2 billion but total expenses also doubled to PHP 85.5 billion.
Philippine Airlines exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on December 31, taking out $2.0 billion in annual structural costs. The airline has continuously rebuilt its network and now operates an extensive domestic network again from its hubs in Manila, Cebu, and Davao. In December, new services will be launched from Cebu to Baguio and Cotabato City. Flights between Clark and Seoul and between Busan and Seoul were launched last week. This will be followed by Clark-Hong Kong in early December.
Active as a journalist since 1987, with a background in newspapers, magazines, and a regional news station, Richard has been covering commercial aviation on a freelance basis since late 2016.
Richard is contributing to AirInsight since December 2018. He also writes for Airliner World, Aviation News, Piloot & Vliegtuig, and Luchtvaartnieuws Magazine. Twitter: @rschuur_aero.
