MANILA, Philippines - Air Philippines, the low-cost partner of Philippine Airlines (PAL), will purchase 4 more Airbus aircraft next year on top of the 6 planes that were previously ordered.

“There will be four more Airbus A320s that Air Philippines will lease next year.  So, it’s a total of 10 A320s,” said an official of the airline who asked not to be identified. All aircraft will be purchased on a lease-to-own basis.

Air Philippines is going to use 2 of the 6 Airbus A320s that had been ordered. The aircraft will arrive in September and another on is due in October. Air Philippines will take delivery of the remaining two A320s in November and December this year.

“We will start operating the Airbus A320 by the end of March because during the start of the summer season. The aircraft will fly to bigger routes such as Puerto Princesa, Cagayan de Oro, Bacolod and Iloilo,” added the official.

Air Philippines posted on its website that it will service the 4 routes twice daily.  It is introducing a year-round promo fare for the said routes. Manila to Cagayan de Oro-Manila fare costs P1,864; Manila-Puerto Princesa-Manila, P1,418; Manila-Bacolod-Manila, P1,060; and P882 for Manila-Iloilo-Manila.

The airline currently flies to routes that are also being served by rival Cebu Pacific. The official said Air Philippines will make sure that it “will give our competitor a hard time” once it relaunches the airline as Air Philippines Express.

“Air Philippines will give Cebu Pacific a serious competition. Air Philippines will pretty much capture the market being served by Cebu Pacific. It may even go regional this year,” added the official.

Both PAL and Air Philippines are looking to strengthen their operations with modest fleet and route-network buildups despite predictions by the International Air Transport Association of a dip in industry earnings due to higher fuel prices.

The 2 airlines have had close complementation in their flight operations, feeding passengers into each other’s networks and ensuring seamless connections via their joint hubs at NAIA Centennial Terminal 2 in Manila and Mactan International Airport in Cebu.

Air Philippines earlier announced a new management team appointed to implement the airline’s new business model. David Lim, Air Philippines’ new president, and Cesar Chiong, chief operating officer, were tasked to fast track the airline’s conversion to a low-cost business model using a leaner workforce.

The official said Air Philippines will not compete with PAL Express which is a brand of PAL that serves  a specific market.

“Air Philippines will be a different airline. PAL Express is just a brand and not a company. Air Philippines would like to have its own brand. It can be called Air Philippines Express,” added the official.

Air Philippines is 99% owned by the Lucio Tan Group. PAL, meantime, is 95% owned by Tan.

The new business model also involved the lease of Bombardier turboprop aircraft from PAL. The turbo-prop fleet flies to 19 towns and cities, operating out of two hubs—Manila and Cebu. From Manila, the airline flies to Tuguegarao, San Jose (Mindoro Occidental), Naga, Virac, Busuanga, Catar-man, Calbayog, Ormoc and Surigao. From Cebu, it will service Kalibo, Iloilo, Bacolod, Tacloban, Butuan, Ozamiz, Cagayan de Oro, Gen. Santos, Zamboanga and from Zamboanga to Davao. 

The following flights are being operated by Air Philippines, as code shared with PAL with the latter as the marketing carrier. Tickets issued by PAL will be accepted for carriage.