MANILA - Philippine Airlines hopes to return to its pre-pandemic capacity within the year, its president and CEO Stanley Ng said Tuesday.

In a briefing, Ng said PAL now has reached 80 percent capacity in domestic travel compared to the pre-pandemic level and about 60 percent in terms of international flights.

The 100-percent capacity could be reached by year-end especially as travel peaks up again during the holidays. No figure has been mentioned, but PAL flew over 16 million passengers in 2019.

So far, the numbers for the first quarter have been encouraging and the Holy Week break was a good week for PAL, he said.

"Holy Week almost all flights actually were fully booked and it's good for the airline," Ng said.

And as the country recovers from COVID-19 and travel restrictions continue to ease in all areas, Ng said they would begin to restore flights that were previously suspended.

He added that once countries open up, PAL will also respond accordingly to resume or open more flights.

PAL is also set to return leased aircraft next year. The flag carrier will be strategizing this year what new aircraft to purchase or lease and what new destinations will be opened, the new executive shared.

"We are in the process of reviewing the strategy moving forward. We'll return some of our airplanes in 2024, so now is actually the right time to start looking what will be our medium to long term plan in terms of fleet," Ng said.

• PAL eyes reviving pre-pandemic flight frequencies to Singapore in Q4: CEO

PAL has also partnered with Singapore Tourism Board to entice Filipinos to visit Singapore. Ng said, they will partner with more organizations because, in that way, they can also help bring tourists to the Philippines.

"We will always explore. It's not just one-way. It's collaboration with foreign destinations and countries to promote their tourism, as well as promoting the Philippines as a destination. We're also open and the Philippines is a beautiful country and we have so much things to offer to show the world," Ng said.

Philippine Airlines emerged from a voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy process in the US early this year as the pandemic aggravated its existing business challenges.

The airline is now in its recovery phase as it hopes travel restrictions be eased further in all areas.

• PAL eyes reviving pre-pandemic flight frequencies to Singapore in Q4: CEO
• PAL says domestic, international flights continue despite omicron

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