Philippine Airlines is set to retire their last A340-300’s as their brand new A350 aircraft arrive in their fleet.

The carrier has one A340-300 that can be put in use should there be a technical issue with another aircraft, says Jose Perez, vice-president of corporate communications at PAL.

He says that recent unsourced reports that the type has been permanently retired are “close to the truth.”

“We actually made a decision to retire them sooner rather than later,” he says. “We might have an announcement to make at some point. There is one aircraft we can use if [there are] technical difficulties with one of our 777s or A350s.”

“[Utilisation is] very low. It may fly to Los Angeles or San Francisco, and then be parked again. Right now, we’re reviewing that. We might have to make a decision at a certain point to ground all the aircraft.”

Once Philippine Airlines retires their last A340, it will be the end of A340 operations in the Asia-Pacific region

The carrier will receive two additional A350s in 2019 and is considering additional USA services, either to Chicago or Seattle.

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On other types, Perez says the carrier’s four new A321neos have performed well, especially to longer-haul destinations such as Sapporo, Brisbane, and Sydney. He says customer feedback has been positive and notes that the A321neo product resembles that of a widebody, with full-flat seats in business class, a good seat pitch in economy, and seatback in-flight entertainment.

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