Philippine Airlines (PAL; ) is the flag carrier of the Philippines. The airline was founded in 1941 and is the oldest operating commercial airline in Asia."
Philippine Airlines launched its first flight on March 15, 1941, using a Beechcraft Model 18 aircraft from Manila to Baguio. After a brief suspension during World War II, the airline resumed operations in 1946 and became the first Asian airline to cross the Pacific, with a flight from Manila to Oakland, United States. PAL was designated as the country's flag carrier in the late 1940s and expanded rapidly in the decades that followed. In 1966, PAL was privatized when then-chairman Benigno Toda Jr. acquired a majority stake. However, in 1977, the airline was re-nationalized when the Government Service Insurance System obtained the majority of its shares. The airline underwent privatization again in 1992, when it was purchased by a group led by Antonio Cojuangco. Subsequent ownership changes occurred, with businessman Lucio Tan eventually becoming the majority stockholder in the mid-1990s.
Over the years, PAL has undergone periods of expansion and restructuring, responding to economic downturns, fuel price volatility, and regional competition. The airline has implemented multiple modernization programs focused on fleet renewal, route expansion, and service upgrades. In February 2018, Skytrax recognized Philippine Airlines as a four-star airline. Philippine Airlines has accepted Oneworld's invitation to join the alliance in 2027.
The airline's main flight operations are based at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Metro Manila. It primarily operates international routes across Asia, North America, and Oceania, along with select domestic sectors—including Cebu, Bacolod, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Iloilo, General Santos and Puerto Princesa—while the majority of domestic flights are operated by its subsidiary, PAL Express.
History
Philippine Airlines (PAL) was established on February 26, 1941, as Philippine Air Lines, following the acquisition of its operational franchise from the Philippine Aerial Taxi Company (PATCO) by a group of businessmen led by Andrés Soriano and Ramón J. Fernández in conjunction with freight operator Pappy Gunn.
Once among Asia's largest carriers, PAL was significantly impacted by the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Facing substantial financial losses, the airline undertook major restructuring measures: terminating services to Europe and the Middle East, suspending most domestic routes except those operating from Manila, reducing its fleet size, and laying off thousands of employees. In September 1998, PAL ceased operations temporarily and entered receivership. Operations resumed in October 1998, and over time, the airline reinstated many of its domestic and international routes. PAL successfully exited receivership in 2007 after implementing a rehabilitation plan approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Subsequently, the airline has undertaken several management restructurings aimed at reestablishing its position as a leading carrier in the Asia-Pacific region.
Philippine Airlines operated the Boeing 737-300 from 1989 until 2006, utilizing the twin-engine jetliner to anchor its short-haul domestic and regional network.
In August 14, 1989 Philippine Airlines Introduced Their Boeing 737-300,
In December 31, 2006 Philippine Airlines Retires Their Boeing 737-300 and it's Last Flight Was Manila To Zamboanga Airport, they have their ceremony of their Last Boeing 737-300 In Ninoy Aquino international airport manila in December 31, 2006 at 6:30pm and they stored their Boeing 737-300s In Naia Junkyard.
Corporate affairs
Philippine Airlines Inc.(PAL) is owned by PAL Holdings, Inc. (PHI) (), a holding company responsible for the airline's operations. PAL Holdings is part of a group of companies owned by business tycoon Lucio Tan. ANA Holdings, the holding company of All Nippon Airways, holds a stake of 4.5% in PAL Holdings diluted from its initial ownership of 9.5% back in early 2019.
Since early 2024, the airline (along with its parent holding company PHI) has been headquartered at the Lucio K. Tan Jr. Center, along Andrews Avenue in Pasay. In 2017, PAL was the ninth-largest corporation in the Philippines in terms of gross revenue, as ranked by BusinessWorld. As of December 31, 2024, PAL had 6,520 employees.
In 2007, PAL was the 61st largest airline in the world by revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs), recording over 16 billion RPKs from 21 billion available seat kilometers (ASKs), with an average load factor of 76 percent.PAL makes it to World Airline Rankings , Philippine Daily Inquirer, September 6, 2007
Business highlights
+Philippine Airlines/PAL Holdings business highlights Financial performance (PHP billions) Fiscal year 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Revenue 100.9 107.2 114.5 129.5 150.5 154.5 55.3 58.7 139.2 179.1 178.0 Expenses 98.6 98.4 104.8 132.2 156.5 151.7 81.8 62.8 121.9 151.0 160.0 Income before tax 0.3 6.7 7.1 53.7 10.6 21.8 9.4 Net income 0.1 6.7 4.9 60.6 10.4 21.3 8.1 Assets 109.2 114.4 125.3 179.9 199.1 317.8 227.9 193.8 206.0 219.7 213.3 Liabilities 105.5 104.3 111.2 166.0 188.4 312.9 296.0 192.2 194.2 186.4 170.4 Equity 3.7 10.1 14.1 13.9 10.7 4.9 1.6 11.8 33.3 42.9 Operating highlights Fiscal year 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 11.9 13.3 14.5 15.9 16.7 3.9 2.9 9.3 14.7 15.6 17.5 19.2 20.3 20.5 21.8 6.8 6.8 12.9 18.1 19.7 68.3 69.2 71.4 77.4 76.5 56.7 42.6 72.0 81.0 79.1 28,301 32,503 36,973 40,003 42,329 11,873 7,680 24,860 35,338 35,377 41,439 46,996 51,793 51,682 55,308 20,918 18,023 34,538 43,734 44,737
Note Data before 2014 were excluded from the table as figures before that year were compounded using a different fiscal year period.
Network
In 1980, Philippine Airlines operated flights to several European destinations, such as Amsterdam, Athens, Frankfurt, London–Gatwick and Rome–Fiumicino. Following the 1997 Asian financial crisis, PAL terminated a number of its long-haul routes. In 1998, Cathay Pacific temporarily operated some of PAL's international services for a 14-day period during the latter's operational shutdown.
In 2010, the European Union (EU) imposed a ban on all Philippine-based carriers, citing regulatory concerns, despite favorable safety assessments from the International Civil Aviation Organization. The ban was lifted in 2013, allowing Philippine Airlines to resume European operations. That same year, PAL relaunched flights to London–Heathrow in 2013 using a Boeing 777-300ER. On October 29, 2018, the airline inaugurated non-stop service to New York–JFK with an Airbus A350-900, marking one of the longest commercial flights in the world at the time.
As of 2025, Philippine Airlines operates 41 international and 32 domestic routes. Its regional subsidiary, PAL Express, handles the majority of the airline's domestic operations.
Codeshare agreements Philippine Airlines codeshares with the following airlines:
Air Macau Alaska Airlines All Nippon Airways American Airlines Bangkok Airways Cathay Pacific China Airlines Garuda Indonesia Gulf Air Hawaiian Airlines Malaysia Airlines Qatar Airways Royal Brunei Airlines Saudia Singapore Airlines Turkish Airlines Vietnam Airlines WestJet XiamenAir
Interline agreements Philippine Airlines interlines with the following airlines:
Solomon Airlines Southwest Airlines
Fleet
Branding
Logo The Philippine Airlines logo changed several times since the company's founding. Its first logo incorporated a blue oval with "PAL" superimposed in white letters, a four-pointed star with points intersecting behind the "A" in PAL, and a wing whose orientation varied depending on the location of the logo. The wing pointed to the right if located on the left side of the plane, and to the left if on the right side. A variant of this logo featured a globe instead of the blue oval with the superimposed PAL initials. It was used from the 1950s through the mid-1960s.
In the late 60's, the company adopted a blue triangle with the bottom point missing and a red triangle superimposed upon it, enclosed by a circle. This was meant to evoke a vertically displayed national flag with white forming by the negative space between the two triangles. In 1970, the logo adopted a new typeface, Futura, and remained the official PAL logo until 1986.
The current PAL logo features the same two blue and red sail triangles used in the second and third logos. An eight-rayed yellow sunburst was superimposed on top of the blue triangle, and a new Helvetica typeface was used.
Livery
PAL liveries have undergone many incarnations. The first PAL aircraft bore a simple white-top, silver-bottom livery separated by solid straight cheatlines, with a small Philippine flag superimposed on the tail. The name "Philippine Air Lines" was superimposed on the upper forward portion of the fuselage and the PAL logo was located at the back. Later variants of the livery, especially on PAL jet aircraft, made use of an extended Philippine flag as cheatlines, with the PAL logo superimposed on the tail. By this time, the name "Philippine Airlines" was used in the livery.
Another variant of the original livery used by PAL is somewhat similar to the current livery. However, it uses PAL's third logo on the tail with blue, white, and red cheatlines running the center of the fuselage. Later on, the bottom half of the fuselage was also painted white.
The current "Eurowhite" livery, first used with the Short 360, was adopted in 1986 following PAL's corporate rebranding. This livery, (designed by Landor Associates) has "Philippines" superimposed on the forward portion of the fuselage in italics (using the PAL logo typeface), while the tail is painted with the logo and the Philippine flag is visible near the rear of the aircraft. The PAL logo is also painted on the winglets of aircraft that have them. The name "Philippines", instead of "Philippine Airlines", is to denote that PAL is the primary flag carrier of the Philippines. However, this sometimes leads to confusion that a PAL plane, especially when chartered by the President for official or state visits, is, in fact, the official air transport of the Philippine head of state. Any PAL aircraft with the flight number "PR/PAL 001" and the callsign "PHILIPPINE ONE" is a special plane operated by Philippine Airlines to transport the President or Vice President of the Philippines. The flight number "PR/PAL 002" and the callsign "PHILIPPINE TWO" are used if the Vice President travels simultaneously with the President. As such, the presidential seals are patched on or near the L1 and R1 doors of any PAL aircraft chartered by the president.
For the airline's 70th anniversary in 2011, a special decal was placed on all of its aircraft. The sticker featured a stylized "70" and the words, "Asia's first, shining through". For its 75th anniversary in 2016, a special decal was put on the back of every aircraft. The sticker features a stylized "75". PAL also placed a 4-star Skytrax sticker on its aircraft to celebrate its new rating. For the airline's 85th anniversary in 2026, first seen on RP-C3510, the airline's first Airbus A350-1000, a stylized 85 appears at the rear half of the fuselage.
In February 2019, Philippine Airlines rolled out its fifth Airbus A350 aircraft with a LoveBus decal that represents the 40th anniversary of its partnership with Airbus and to celebrate the airline's signature heartfelt service. The kiss-marked LoveBus logo was also placed in 1979 on one of PAL's Airbus A300s that represented their first year of partnership with Airbus. Its LoveBus A350 was rolled out from the paint shop and was accepted on February 14, 2019, Valentine's Day. PAL took delivery of it three days later, and held a welcoming ceremony at Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2.
Frequent-flyer program