Philippine Airlines receives their first Airbus A350
MSN 221, the first A350-900 for Philippine Airlines, has been delivered.
The aircraft, registered RP-C3501, is the first of six Airbus A350-900s to Asia’s oldest airline.
The cabin is in a three class layout fitted with business, premium economy and economy seating. Each passenger of all classes have USB power outlets to their disposal on the inflight entertainment screens.
Business class features 30 seats which are 23-24 inches wide and recline into a 2m long fully-flat bed.
Behind the business class is a premium economy section, offering 24 passengers 19 inch wide seats at a 38 inch pitch in a 2-4-2 layout.
Economy class features 241 seats in a 3-3-3 configuration with a seat pitch of 33 inches. I am particularly impressed with the extra inch legroom which could make some difference on long haul flights. The width of each seat is 18 inches and has a total recline of 6 inches.
As the Philippines is a majority Catholic country, there is a blessing ceremony from the church. I was informed later this is a common practice and Philippine Airlines does this to all of their new aircraft.
Delivery Flight
Flight PR5003 took off from Toulouse around 7:30pm, with flight time 12 hours 15 minutes to Manila, via Eastern Europe, Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Chinese aerospace.
From boarding, the highly anticipated delivery flight transformed into “Fiesta” mood on-board. The fun never end then! There were 69 passengers from Philippine and international media, cabin designer, technicians with 8 cabin crew and 5 pilots in total.
Fiesta Mood
Shortly after takeoff, there was a unique, dynamic light show to celebrate a special occasion, demonstrated by the cabin designer Daniel Baron from Lift.
Wing and Curve
After a few hours of rest, the light came back again while we cruised at 43,000 feet over Mongolia and China.
A Sweet Ending
The hospitality was truly first class on-board. There was a great sense of pride from the management to the operational crew. I received a very nice signed menu card at the end of the flight!
After arrival, there was water cannon salute to the new A350 and a photo opportunity in front of the latest member of Philippine Airlines! The airline plan to have a formal unveil ceremony on 17th July at Manila to display both A350 and recently delivered A321NEO.
I hope you have enjoyed this special delivery flight report. Philippine Airlines A350 will enter commercial service to Hong Kong from July 20th, from September to London and late October to New York. The airline is due to receive a total of 4 A350 this year and 2 more next year.
hey Sam, what is the name of flight attendant? who offers u the menu.
Hi Sam! At one point in the video, you were talking about an Away luggage. Is it the carry on or the bigger carry on? I have a flight JFK-MNL on an A350 and was wondering if I can get away with not checking in my Away bigger carry on. Thanks!
I have both versions. My fav is the bigger carry on as it holds more. Yes, you can use either bags for carry on.
Thanks, Sam! Seat 52A seems like the best of all worlds A window seat with extra legroom and being able to get out of your seat on a long haul flight without climbing over two people. Thanks again.
Thanks so much for the wonderful content here and the videos I’ve been watching on YouTube. Wondering if you can help me with this question. In seat 52A on PALs a350-900 is it possible to exit the seat via the extra legroom space since there is no seat in front of it? Thanks!
of course you can use the space in front.
Nice Pics. A350 interior is nice with Sam. Now a days we could not find any airlines introduce flight celebrations with out Sam. 🙂
Regards,
Raja
Hyderabad, India
Which is the website to get cheap business class tickets? I’m from Zurich
You may want to check out our “Smart Travel” section
Hi Sam! I do think that Cathay Pacific is better. But the improvement is nice.
I love this video and want to know what music you used for this vidro
Hi Sam what is the music you use at the start of the video
these music are purchased from Audio stock library. Unfortunately I forgot the title of this one and didn’t save file.
Glad to see that PAL is investing in their hard product. I’m just hoping they’d also retrofit their B777 to that they’d have a consistent layout throughout their fleet.
Amazing documentation of the delivery flight, Sam! I hope you have enjoyed your trip with Philippine Airlines and their sparkling new A350. Take care.
thank you for your kind words.
Hey Sam, great to meet you, and so happy you could join us on the PAL A350 delivery trip. WHAT A FLIGHT!
It was such a rewarding project, and I hope you liked the cabin. Best / Daniel
Those FAs are so lucky to serve you and Alex Macheras in the same flight! Good to see that PAL is really stepping up their game with the new A350s. Great TripReport as always Sam.
Great pics! What a gorgeous aircraft – thanks for sharing.
Please don’t forget to post videos about this PAL A350-900 🙂
I am trying my best to get it out on Tuesday evening!