MANILA — Philippine Airlines said on Tuesday it finalized a purchase deal with Airbus for the order of 9 A350-1000 long range aircraft.

The deal was signed during the Paris Air Show held in Le Bourget in France.

PAL said the A350-1000 was chosen under its Ultra Long Haul Fleet project which would fly non-stop from Manila to North America, including to the East Coast of the US and Canada.

The A350-1000 can accommodate 380 passengers in a 3 class layout, namely business class, premium economy and economy class, the flag carrier said.

“This order will see PAL operating one of the youngest and most modern widebody fleets in Asia. We selected the A350-1000 to give PAL the power to match capacity closely to predicted demand on both the very longest routes to the North American East Coast but also on our prime trunk routes to the West Coast and potentially to Europe as well," PAL President and COO Capt. Stanley Ng said.

"At the same time, the aircraft will use significantly less fuel than older aircraft of a similar size, which also brings an important reduction in carbon emissions," he added.

PAL Holdings President and COO Lucio Tan III said the A350-1000 would be the carrier's "Mission Aircraft" meant to connect the world and boost the economy.

The A350 is the world's most modern widebody aircraft which is capable of flying 9,700 nautical miles of 18,000 kilometers non-stop, PAL said.

PAL has 2 A350-900s under its fleet.