INTRODUCTION
Hi everyone! Welcome to my first flight review.
I was originally supposed to fly on Malaysia Airlines from Manila to Kuala Lumpur, but due to flight cancellations brought about by heavy rains, I was immediately rebooked onto Philippine Airlines on this red-eye flight.
AT THE AIRPORT
Philippine Airlines' international flights operated from NAIA Terminal 2 during my trip. From June 16, 2023, all their international flights were moved to NAIA Terminal 1. Their check-in counters were spacious and the process itself was relatively quick when compared to Terminal 1 and Terminal 3.
As a Mabuhay Miler and Business Class passenger, I had access to their Mabuhay Lounge. At this time of night, the lounge was packed but a few seats were still available. Hot and cold food options were available but the quality is nothing to write home about.
Boarding was called at 9PM at Gate 1, but the flight was slightly delayed as the jet bridge did not work, and passengers had to go down to the ramp area and board the aircraft through air stairs.
ONBOARD
Philippine Airlines' Airbus A321neo features 12 business class seats and 156 economy class seats.
The friendly flight attendants showed me to my seat, 3A. The seat itself was quite spacious, with adequate storage space, and a large monitor. The seat offered great privacy and would be a very comfortable seat especially for a long-haul flight.
Interestingly enough, there were only four passengers in Business, and around fifty passengers in Economy. In fact, I had two rows to myself! We pushed back and took off from Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport with only a slight delay.
After takeoff, the flight purser distributed the menus. However, she kindly explained that only one option was available for the main, as the ground crew at Manila did not load much meals due to the light load.
Only the Chicken Satay was available, but it was delicious. The meal was flavorful and the portion is good for a flight this length.
Hi, welcome to Flight-Report.
Great review on board one of their recent A321neo, the cabin is great with a full flat product, menu seems good as well, shame for the airport experience though.
Thank you! The airport experience really needs to be improved to make the journey more comfortable. PAL does not even have its own lounge in Terminal 1 (where all international flights were transferred), it’s something they can really work on once the new airport is opened in Manila.
Thanks for sharing your first report here with us! Sounds like this was a rebooking that worked out better in the end, as I assume the MH flight would have been operated by a 737?
Aside from the rough short-redeye schedule, everything looks really nice on this flight. A nice inviting cabin with fully flat seats and large IFE screens and good catering, even if only one option was available at the end (It's probably the option I would have picked anyway haha).
PAL have a lot of potential, now they just need to work on product consistency--some subfleet cabins look LCC or outdated. while others are nice and premium like this one.
Thanks again for sharing and welcome to Flight-Report!
Thanks for sharing this FR and welcome to the site! PR's new A321s look very good, but for them to really improve their global image they will need to do a lot of work on their long-haul fleet. PR's prices are always the lowest for TPACs from SFO/LAX, but their B77Ws with old angle-flat seats in 2-3-2 are just not competitive. Otherwise, their crews are generally well praised in reports and their catering looks good (surprised they only loaded one option, but as Kevin said, the chicken satay sounded the best anyways).
Agree completely with MNL, a very unpleasant airport all around and with poor access. Will the new MRT lines even go to the airport?