PAL extends maintenance services deal with Airbus

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February 10, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) is taking its partnership with aerospace giant Airbus a step further, signing a long-term deal for maintenance services covering a total of 63 aircraft.

PAL yesterday announced it has extended its flight hour services (FHS) agreement with Airbus to ensure maintenance support for A320, A330 and A350 aircraft in its fleet.

The contract covers 43 A320s and 11 A330s, as well as the nine A350-1000s that PAL is adding to its fleet, the first of which arrived in 2025.

The agreement mandates Airbus to provide component support to PAL regularly. Under this, the Toulouse-based aircraft maker will deliver engineering services and reliability tests to Airbus jets covered by the deal.

Likewise, Airbus has to allocate an on-site stock of aviation parts at PAL’s main hub in Manila. In essence, the contract is designed to raise PAL’s fleet availability by quickly completing repair works on aircraft with issues.

On top of this, Airbus president for Asia and the Pacific Anand Stanley said the agreement gives PAL predictability not just on repair times, but on maintenance costs as well.

“By delivering comprehensive component support and on-site services in Manila, we help PAL optimize fleet performance while benefiting from predictable and long-term maintenance costs,” Stanley said.

The FHS offers clients a variety of maintenance options and parts supply, all covered by a fixed per hour payment contract.

PAL started subscribing to the FHS in 2018, when an initial contract with Airbus was signed for its A350-900s. Four years later, in 2022, the agreement was expanded to include A320 and A330 families, as the airline grew confident in the quality of the fleet solutions offered by FHS.

As of September 2025, PAL operates a fleet of 79 aircraft, of which 58 are Airbus. The airline owned by the Tans will expand its Airbus fleet, with five more A350-1000s coming in this year starting in May.

Moreover, PAL is expected to receive 13 A321neos between 2026 and 2029 to boost its fleet for domestic and regional flights.

Airbus, for its part, is dominating the Philippine market for commercial aviation, especially as it is the aircraft of choice by the country’s leading carriers Cebu Pacific and PAL.