MANILA - After 10 years of absence in the region, the Philippine Airlines (PAL) may resume its flights to Europe.

The country's flag carrier made this intention known through the recently concluded air talks between the Philippines and the United Kingdom, Civil Aeronautics Board Executive Director Carmelo Arcilla told reporters.

This was also confirmed in PAL's latest financial report, which said that the airline will "evaluate its route network and venture into other route possibilities."

PAL continues to expand its Boeing 777-300 Extended Range fleet for its long haul flights, with 2 more aircraft set to be delivered in the coming months. The airline, however, was barred from adding flights to the United States after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) downgraded the country's aviation safety rating to Category 2 in 2007.

According to Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines Director General Ruben Ciron, the FAA will send a team to Manila in October to re-assess the country's aviation safety standards.

In other words, PAL may be considering mounting flights to Europe since it is unable to use its new planes for additional US flights.

PAL reported a consolidated comprehensive loss of P12.26 billion for the fiscal year ending March 2009 from P528.5 million a year ago, despite a 14% increase in revenues to P75.31 billion.

This was mainly due to higher costs on flying operations, maintenance, aircraft, and traffic servicing, which rose 30% to P87.8 billion.

"With these challenges still prevailing, PAL plans to initiate programs geared toward revenue generation, asset and cost management, and business efficiency," PAL said.

At present, PAL operates a total of 47 aircraft that fly to 29 domestic destinations and 31 international routes. The airline has some 8,052 employees and is not expecting to hire more workers within the next year.