‘Airphil Express’ is now ‘PAL Express’

MANILA, Philippines – The budget arm of local carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) will be be going through a re-branding, which includes a new name.

“It will be called PAL Express. There won’t be Airphil Express anymore,” said Ramon Ang, the president of PAL, the parent firm of Airphil Express and PAL Express, which is currently non-operating

Ang said the board has approved the rebranding of Airphil Express to PAL Express and awaits regulatory approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
 
PAL Express was once the budget arm of PAL for only a year from 2008 to 2009. However, its operation stopped following the complaints from ground personnel and flight attendants.

“They used to complain that they worked both for PAL Express and Airphil at the same time. So management had to pull out PAL Express,” explained a source.

Airphil, which is the brand name of Air Philippines Corp., was 99% owned by the Lucio Tan group.

Diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp., where Ramon Ang is also president and chief operating officer, acquired controlling stake in both PAL and Air Philippines Corp in April.  

Airphil flew 2.39 million passengers from January to June, up from 1.85 million recorded a year ago, according to Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) records. – Rappler.com