With the proliferation of twin-engine, extremely fuel-efficient, widebody aircraft, airlines are flying further non-stop than ever before. Asia’s oldest airline, Philippine Airlines, is no exception, having invested heavily in the Boeing 777 and Airbus A350 families to replace its reliable but gas-guzzling 747 and A340 fleets, respectively. The staggering range of these aircraft allow routes such as Manila to New York to be operated non-stop, without payload restrictions. Previously, PAL could not make the trip non-stop with its A340s, requiring a technical stop in Vancouver to take on fuel. The 777 and A350 currently alternate service between the Philippines and the East Coast, with the latter aircraft being the A350-900HGW (High Gross Weight), a version that is within a few tons of the A350-900ULR’s MTOW but lacks the ULR’s special modifications. This allows the new Airbuses to fly the westbound leg without any restrictions, freeing up the big Triple 7s for other routes. Today, we’ll be taking an A350-900HGW to JFK.
Server: Solo
Airline: Philippine Airlines
Aircraft: Airbus A350-900
Origin: Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Parañaque, Philippines (MNL)
Destination: John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City, New York (JFK)
Flight Number: PR126
Route: RPLL-KJFK
Seat: 8A (Business)
Time En Route: 15 Hours 43 Minutes
Boarding at Terminal 1 in Manila. This year is the 10th anniversary of Philippine Airlines service to JFK, after previously flying across the Hudson into Newark.
Taxiing out for departure. The A350-900s are soon to be augmented by the A350-1000, which will likely replace the 777-300ERs, some of which are approaching 20 years of very intense service
Heavy takeoff for New York in the humid evening air
We’re headed north over the Ryukyu Islands, near Kadena Air Force Base
In cruise over Canada’s Northwest Territory
Sunset over Ontario, this being the Canadian province, not the Californian city
Crossing the Hudson on our final descent into JFK
Landing in New York after a pleasant flight taking us across the Pacific and over the tundra, down through central and eastern Canada, and into New York State
Taxiing to another Terminal 1 over 7,000 miles away from the one we left from
Deplaned and walking to the baggage claim as the big jet is readied by another crew for the long trip back home to Manila in a few hours