PAL bags international awards

Philippine Airlines (PAL) “earned a double victory” after receiving awards from two Europe-based international publications for its restructuring agreements in 2021, according to a report by BusinessMirror.

PAL announced that it won the Asia Pacific Restructuring Deal of the Year honors from Airline Economics magazine and the AirFinance Journal Deal of the Year award.

The airline said the awards “recognized the success of PAL’s financial restructuring through a breakthrough series of cross-border agreements with major aircraft and bank creditors, aviation manufacturers, and other stakeholders.”

To recall, PAL emerged successfully in its restructuring program in December 2021, freeing up the carrier from significant amounts of debt and providing the company with additional liquidity for long-term growth.

“We will not rest on our laurels, but we will persevere in our efforts to complete PAL’s recovery and reclaim its place in the aviation world.  We dedicate these efforts to our customers and the Filipino people whom we are committed to serve as best as we can,” PAL President and COO Stanley K. Ng said in a statement.

The Airline Economics Aviation 100 Awards reward resilience and ingenuity in a challenging environment for the worldwide aviation industry. Airline Economics is the flagship publication owned by Aviation News Ltd and dedicated to the commercial aviation finance and leasing industry.

AirFinance Journal Awards 2021 considered 30 categories across several regions. PAL’s Chapter 11 cross-border restructuring won as the Deal of the Year for the Asia Pacific region.

PAL posted a comprehensive net income of P1.2 billion in the first quarter of 2022, giving the carrier a fresh start. PAL last recorded a positive first-quarter result in 2016.

The airline said in March that it will strengthen its network, which covers 39 international and 27 domestic destinations. PAL has since resumed its operations and increased frequencies for flights to the United States, Canada, Singapore, Australia, Japan, Southeast Asia, China and local destinations, among many others.

The carrier plans to “expand partnerships with other airlines” to build on alliances and interline agreements to “allow PAL customers to reach over 1,000 destinations."