Japan’s biggest airline company, All Nippon Airways (ANA), is said to be seeking to buy a minority stake in Philippine Airlines (PAL).
According to an Inquirer report, sources claimed that the deal between the two airline companies is in its final stages and that the deal will be announced to the public “in the coming weeks”.
The report noted that the deal is seen as PAL’s move to elevate the airline company to become a world-class airline and to achieve five-star status from SkyTrax ratings by 2020.
The move also seeks to help PAL in adding more international destinations to cater to business travelers and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), the report added.
No further details on the said deal have been released.
In November 2018, an airline safety and product rating review website dubbed the Philippines’ flag carrier as the “most improved airline” for 2019.
AirlineRatings.com gave PAL the “Most Improved Airline Award 2019” since it has “expanded its global footprint by more than 60 percent in recent years”.
“Philippine Airlines has expanded its global footprint by more than 60 percent in recent years with innovative services such as a single-aisle A321neo flight between Manila and Brisbane and an A350-900 trans-polar route to New York.
“The four times weekly A321neo service featured the first flat-bed business product on a narrowbody aircraft operated to Australia and replaced three flights a week run by a fuel-hungry A340,” the website said.
