Philippine Airlines looks set to fly its newest wide-body aircraft, the Airbus A350-900, on select flights on its routes between Manila and Melbourne and Sydney this winter, giving passengers the opportunity to experience the airline’s latest business class seat products.
According to the airline’s schedule, both routes will see the aircraft take over a few flights per week for about two months starting this December, with the lion’s share going to the Melbourne service. Philippine Airlines flies non-stop once per day from Manila to Melbourne and to Sydney.
From December 1 until January 31, 2019, the A350 will fly five of the airline’s Melbourne flights per week, with the A330-300 operating the other two.
Manila-Melbourne A350 schedule:
| Flight No. | From | To | Departs | Arrives | Days |
| PR207 | Manila (MNL) | Melbourne (MEL) | 1646 | 0405+1 | Mon, Wed, Sun |
| PR209 | Manila (MNL) | Melbourne (MEL) | 2110 | 0830+1 | Tue, Sat |
| PR208 | Melbourne (MEL) | Manila (MNL) | 0550 | 1105 | Mon, Tue, Thu |
| PR210 | Melbourne (MEL) | Manila (MNL) | 1015 | 1530 | Wed, Sun |
Meanwhile from December 3 until February 1 next year, the Sydney route will see the aircraft on just three flights per week, with the other four also flown by the A330.
Manila-Sydney A350 schedule:
| Flight No. | From | To | Departs | Arrives | Days |
| PR213 | Manila (MNL) | Sydney (SYD) | 1050 | 2200 | Mon |
| PR211 | Manila (MNL) | Sydney (SYD) | 2230 | 1005+1 | Thu, Fri |
| PR214 | Sydney (SYD) | Manila (MNL) | 0600 | 1115 | Tue |
| PR212 | Sydney (SYD) | Manila (MNL) | 1150 | 1650 | Fri, Sat |
It’s worth noting that these schedules and deployments may be subject to change and are based on current booking information on the airline’s website.
Philippine Airlines took delivery of its first of six A350s last month, and has already scheduled the aircraft to fly its long-haul routes to London and New York from October and November onwards, respectively.
The aircraft notably features the airline’s new business class seat, which uses Thompson Aero’s Vantage XL product. These are fully flat seats that are configured in a staggered 1-2-1 configuration, meaning all passengers get access to the aisle.
Premium economy, meanwhile, is laid out in a 2-4-2 formation with 24 seats spread across three rows.
Finally, the 241 remaining seats in the economy class cabin are configured nine-across with each offering 18 inches of width.
Philippine Airlines also recently began flying its new A321neo aircraft on flights between Manila and Brisbane, which similarly feature a new fully flat business class seat. These are a different product to those found on the A350, however, and are laid out in a 2-2 configuration.
Starting this September, Philippine Airlines also plans to fly the A321neo on its new service to Sapporo in Japan.
