Aircraft delivery delays have seen Philippine Airlines (PR, Manila Ninoy Aquino International) prioritise narrowbody retrofits and set a 2025 deadline to decide whether to place more orders or retrofit further existing aircraft, according to an Aviation Week Network report.
Philippine Airlines SVP of Group Operations Roland Narcisco told the outlet that the airline will start retrofitting eighteen A321-200s in mid-2025, with the programme to take two years. Ruling out retrofitting the carrier's nine B777-300ERs because they are approaching their lease-end dates, he said next year, the airline will need to decide whether to order replacement aircraft or proceed with retrofitting other aircraft types, such as the A330-300s and DHC-8-Q400s.
The SVP said delivery of the first of nine A350-1000s had been pushed from the third to the fourth quarter of 2025, and it remains unknown when deliveries of thirteen A320-200Ns will start after Airbus scratched a tentative 2026 start time. In the mix are ongoing Pratt & Whitney engine issues which have grounded four of the eight existing A321neo types.
The ch-aviation fleets module shows Philippine Airlines currently operates 79 aircraft, namely fourteen A320-200s, twenty-two A321-200s, six A321-200Ns, two A321-200NX, two wet-leased A330-200s, eleven A330-300s, two A350-900s, nine B777-300ERs, and eleven Q400s. Philippine Airlines operates to 72 airports in 20 countries.
