PAL builds up fleet via wet lease deal

Flag-carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) has tapped European charter and wet lease carrier, Wamos Air, to beef up its fleet management and operational resilience during the upcoming peak travel period.

The company said on Friday that a five-month wet-lease agreement with Wamos Air that will start on 1 June will allow PAL to lease two Airbus A330-200s with a dual-class configuration, to operate its Manila-Sydney-Manila and Manila-Melbourne-Manila flights.

“We have additional maintenance requirements during this period due to global supply chain issues that continue to impact the industry. We see the need to temporarily add these aircraft to ensure that we have sufficient capacity to meet the demand that we are anticipating across our network,” PAL president and chief operating officer Capt. Stanley K. Ng said on Friday.

“We chose Wamos Air because of their track record as one of Europe’s leading charter carriers. We are working closely with the carrier to ensure that our passengers will continue to receive the service quality they can expect from Philippine Airlines,” Ng added.

Passengers will receive comparable amenities to PAL’s A330 and will receive the same on-ground and inflight services available on a PAL flight.

Sending crew

Moreover, PAL cabin crew members will be on board to ensure the delivery of PAL’s trademark brand of service.

Under a wet lease arrangement, the lessor provides aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance to another airline for a specified period.

Wamos Air is certified by the International Air Transport Association’s Operational Safety Audit and has completed wet-lease operations for over 50 airlines globally.

Philippine Airlines operates daily flights to Sydney and five times weekly services to Melbourne.