Brent Hannon/TAIPEI
Taiwan's U-Land Airlines has wet-leased the first two of three Boeing MD-82s to Air Philippines as the first step towards acquiring a 35% stake in the Philippine domestic carrier.
Talks between the two airlines have been speeded up because of the Philippine Airlines (PAL) strike. Since the action began, Air Philippines' load factors have surged 20%, and the carrier's fleet - which includes six Boeing 737-200s (plus two 737-200s in maintenance)and four NAMC YS-11s - is not large enough to meet the increased demand.
"The PAL strike is making us move faster, but with or without the strike, this alliance would be ideal," says Air Philippines.
U-Land says it is struggling to fill its six MD-82s on Taiwan's highly competitive domestic routes and can now use the aircraft to boost capacity on domestic Philippine services. If Air Philippines needs more capacity, U-Land will buy more MD-82s from the used market, says the airline.
Air Philippines, launched in February 1996, now operates only domestic services, but has applied for several international routes, including the busy Manila-Taipei route abandoned by PAL.
Source: Flight International
