Philippine Airlines plans new A350 business class

Philippine Airlines looks set to join Qantas, Air New Zealand, Etihad, Lufthansa, JAL and many others in in the opportunistic “new jets = new business class” movement.

For the Manila-based carrier, this means pairing its order for nine Airbus A350-1000s with a fresh take on business class.

Its current A350-900s and older A330s rely on the popular Vantage XL platform from Thompson Aero, albeit in a less customised form than the Qantas, LATAM and Virgin Atlantic iterations (the later of which adds a privacy door to the experience).

Philippine Airlines' current A350 business class.

However, a spokesperson for Philippine Airlines tells Executive Traveller “we will consider new designs for all cabins.”

With the first A350-1000 delivery coming late 2025, Philippine Airlines says it has ”not yet finalised” the business, premium economy and economy cabin seats and configuration.

“These decisions will follow an extensive evaluation process in the coming months.”

Philippine Airlines' current A350 business class.

Philippine Airlines has inked an order for nine Airbus A350-1000s due to arrive across the back end of 2025 through to 2027.

Under the Philippine flag carrier’s Ultra Long Haul Fleet project, those jets  “will be operated on non-stop services from Manila to North America, including to the East Coast of the US and Canada.”

Flights to East Coast cities such as New York and Toronto would rate as some of the world’s longest flights. LINK

Options on three more A350-1000s will “allow future expansion to new long haul destinations” including “a direct link from the Philippines to Europe,” says Philippine Airlines President Captain Stanley K. Ng.

“The A350-1000 combines greater range capability with the higher capacity we need to serve future demand.”

“It’s the perfect aircraft to enable PAL to meet its expansion plans in a sustainable way, while offering passengers the highest levels of onboard comfort.”