Philippines Airlines is the first carrier to operate the Airbus A350-1000 in the Southeast Asia region. It has now received a second aircraft, which unlocks more premium cabin transpacific capacity, and here’s what it means really for this for the carrier.
In this post:
- The Arrival of The Philippine Airlines Second A350-1000
- Savings and more trans-pacific premium capacity
- The Controversial 3-4-3 Economy Class Setup
- The Business Class Seat Lottery
- Sign up to my newsletter
The Arrival of The Philippine Airlines Second A350-1000
Philippine Airlines is the first Airbus A350-1000 operator in Southeast Asia, having received its first in December 2025.
Now, a second milestone for the historic Asian carrier is the arrival of a second Airbus A350-1000. Now, a second milestone for the historic Asian carrier is the arrival of a second Airbus A350-1000. This one is registered RP-C3511.
It arrived brand new from Airbus’s assembly line in Toulouse in Manila on May 28th 2026.
Just as a quick reminder, this is the second aircraft of the type delivered to PAL by Airbus out of an order which will have 9 total A350-1000s head over to the Philippines.
Savings and more trans-pacific premium capacity for Philippine Airlines
The arrival of the second aircraft is particularly important. Philippine Airlines’ long-haul capacity and mainly its premium product have been stagnant for quite some years.
Following the sell-off of a number of Airbus A350-900s during COVID the airline has been undersized for its ambitions and the expat community that it needs to serve.
What the airline offers on long-haul flights has been stuck for quite some time now with aging Boeing 777-300ERs operating some of the most high-yielding routes.
The limited number of A350-900s didn’t allow for expansion, and additionally, the capacity of the 900 variant wasn’t enough to serve high-demand routes such as those to North America.
Now, however, with the arrival of the A350-1000 and with its numbers increasing in the Philippine Airlines fleet, the carrier will be able to serve those destinations with greater efficiency, saving fuel, and with a more modern, improved cabin product and passenger experience.
In other words, the A350-1000 will be replacing on all flagship routes the Boeing 777-300ER.
The Controversial 3-4-3 Economy Class Setup
| Feature / Cabin | Boeing 777-300ER | Airbus A350-1000 |
| Business Class | 42 seats | 42 seats |
| Premium Economy | None | 24 seats |
| Economy Class | 351 seats | 316 seats |
| Total Capacity | 393 seats | 382 seats |
I decided to start off with a table because it highlights perfectly how dense the configuration of the new Philippine Airlines Airbus A350-1000 is in economy class.
Airbus has allowed with the newest batches of Airbus A350 airlines to install ten abreast rows. However, there haven’t been many airlines that have taken up that opportunity just yet.
Philippine Airlines, though, is one of those airlines, and they are not dropping the chance of creating an ultra-high-density economy class cabin for its longest-range aircraft.
The A350-1000, despite it being a big aircraft, is physically smaller than the Boeing 777-300ER. Despite that, and having fitted a premium economy cabin aboard, Philippine Airlines has a mere 11 seats less on the A350-1000, than it does on the 777-300ER.
That is possible thanks to Airbus extracting more cabin space from the fuselage of the A350 in its most recent production batches. The manufacturer calls this the NPS (New Production Standard). As for the seat itself it is the Zim ZP230.
| Feature / Cabin | Boeing 777-300ER | Airbus A350-1000 |
| Economy Class | 351 seats | 316 seats |
| Layout & Product | 3-4-3 layout (Standard high-density Boeing widebody) | 3-4-3 layout (Zim ZP230 seats using Airbus New Production Standard) |
| Dimensions | ~32” Pitch, ~17” Width | 32” Pitch, 16.5” Width (Densely configured) |
| In-Flight Tech | Standard IFE, Shared Power | 4K Monitors, Integrated mobile device/tablet stands, dedicated USB-A/C ports |
It translates to something not very positive for passengers: a seat width of 16.5 inches, which is below the seat width on a standard Boeing 777-300ER, which sits at 17 inches.
That might not make a huge difference on a short hop, a flight a few hours long, but when you’re flying over the Pacific on a 15-hour stretch, that can mean that you are not that comfortable at all.
I know I wouldn’t like to be in the back of the plane with that seat width for that long.
The Business Class Seat Lottery (With Only 2 A350-1000s)
It is good that Philippine Airlines is renovating its long-haul fleet. It was in need of it. However, receiving the A350-1000 at such a slow pace brings some problems of its own.
Philippine Airlines received two A350-1000s in the span of six months. That is not exactly lightning fast, and it translates to passengers experiencing an inconsistency in onboard experience, particularly in business class on long-haul routes.
Until the airline gets a critical mass of A350-1000 its network coverage will be blotchy. Meaning that it’ll be a bit of a lottery to get on one of the new aircraft on your flight.
You can track the tail numbers as much as you want, but aircraft switches can happen, and they do happen very often. It will be down to sheer luck, at least for the next coming months, to get the new business class seats on long-haul Philippine Airlines flights.