Revisiting another route I did a trip report on a couple years ago, but this one is is going to be a lot more in-depth. Recently, Philippine Airlines debuted their new flagship, the A350-1000, on the Manila-New York route, one of the longest in the world. Currently, the new Airbuses are scheduled to fly between MNL and JFK through at least April, after which it’s uncertain if the change will become permanent, like with Japan Airlines, or if the route will switch back to the 777-300ER or even the high gross weight A350-900 for the Northern Summer. Since the scheduling of the A350-1000 and what it possibly means for the Philippine Airlines 777-300ER in the northeast, I’ve decided to get in some more flights with the type, as I mentioned in my MNL-LAX report, before the big Boeing disappears from the skies in PR colors.
Server: Solo
Airline: Philippine Airlines
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER
Origin: John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City, New York (JFK)
Destination: Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Manila, Philippines (MNL)
Flight Number: PR127
Route: KJFK-RPLL
Seat: 5A (Business)
Time En Route: 16 Hours 56 Minutes
Walking down to our aircraft, parked at Gate 5 at JFK-s Terminal 1. Philippine Airlines has been in the New York market for almost 30 years now; however the carrier has only directly served JFK for 11 of them, having flown into Newark, initially with MD-11s leased from World Airways, then briefly with A340-300s before the switch to the 777-300ER following the commencement of service to JFK in 2015 for the airline’s 74th anniversary. In 2018, the route dropped the stopover in Vancouver, which pushed the outer limits of the 777-300ER and the high gross weight A350-900’s (ordered specifically for the MNL-JFK route by PR) practical operating range without payload restrictions. Today, a new type, the A350-1000 has debuted on the MNL-JFK route and taken over from the 777, but hopefully we haven’t seen the last of Bigfoot in the Big Apple yet.
Taxiing by Terminal 4, crowded on this side by Delta jets, as we head to the runway. We’re seated in 1 of 42 business class seats on this 370-seat 777-300ER, fittingly registered RP-C7777. These widebodies are used on all of Philippine Airlines’s North American routes, with the exception of Toronto (A350-900) and New York (A350-1000), with our aircraft being an equipment substitution.
Full-power GE90-115B takeoff from Runway 04L by Terminal 4, Kennedy Tower, and Terminal 5! Due to the flight to Manila being the second-longest one out of JFK, takeoffs in the 95-100% N1 range are common here, treating passengers like us to a serenade of roaring GE90s. We’re not exactly complaining to have over 100 tons of thrust on tap, though.
Climbing over Long Island South as we head north. Our flight path is going to take us above Greenland and the Arctic Circle, before dipping down through Russia, Mongolia, and China, before crossing the South China Sea to the Phillipines. Naturally, for such a long flight, we’re in an extremely comfortable and roomy business class seat, which Philippine Airlines arranges in a 2-3-2 configuration. Unfortunately, this means that passengers with window seats such as ourselves do not have direct aisle access, but since the seat next to us is unoccupied, it’s not an issue on this flight.
Cruising over Western Massachusetts and about to get some sleep. Taking off at 2 in the morning after having gotten up at 6 A.M. sharp the previous day will do tire just about anyone out. Again, much to our luck, we’re in a fully lie-flat seat with a whopping 78 inches of pitch. The seat is well-padded and the bedding is above-average, although not the ultra-luxurious mattress topper and blankets of some of its Asian competitors. In addition to the provided pillow, we’ve brought and are using our own one to speed up falling asleep, although we’re likely not going to need it to be out like a light within a few minutes.
Finishing up a meal of grilled pork adobo sa pula as we near Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, after waking up around half an hour ago. Sleeping in our seat was extremely easy, without it being cramped or rickety like on some other airlines, and it was uninterrupted by turbulence or gusts. Now, we’re going to spend the rest of the flight watching movies from PAL’s impressive selection on the IFE system.
We’ve made landfall over Luzon in our initial descent into Manila. Below the port engine is Santiago Island, forming the “thumbnail” of the right mitten-shaped Luzon, the largest island in the Philippines. This flight has, well, flown by and it’s hard to believe we’ve been airborne for over 16 hours.
Arriving on Runway 06 at MNL by a line of company traffic and Cebu Pacific jets waiting to depart, with a Singapore Airlines 787-10 and an Oman Air 787-9 in the mix. We’ve touched down just shy of 17 hours of flying, and that was heading east with tailwinds. We’d probably have to make a technical stop somewhere if we flew west. Nevertheless, this flight is a testament to the incredible range of the 777-300ER, which continues to be a favorite of airlines around the world.
Taxiing clear of the runway with a United Airlines 777-300ER on final from San Francisco as UA189. Meanwhile, the SQ Dreamliner is holding short for its journey down to Singapore. MNL is certainly on the up-and-up for passenger traffic, and it’s a wonder how the tower keeps everyone separated with the constant increase in flights. Seems like every few months or so, somebody either begins flights here, increases flights here, or in the case of PAL and Cebu Pacific, starts flights to a new destination and increases frequencies.
After spending almost 17 hours and flying to the other side of the world, we’ve deplaned at yet another Gate 5 at yet another Terminal 1. At least the weather’s better here. This flight was one of the best we’ve had with Philippine Airlines, an overlooked gem in a region teeming with first-rate carriers, and we’re definitely coming back to them for flights to and from the P.I.