Philippine Airlines (PAL) managed to stay profitable in the first quarter, reporting a 2.6% rise in net income to $78.55 million, driven by sustained travel demand and strong cargo yields.
In a disclosure on Tuesday, the flag carrier described its first-quarter performance as “solid,” despite the latter part of the period being affected by regional conflict.
Total revenues increased by 9.7% to $895.7 million, with higher passenger, cargo, and ancillary revenues. Passenger revenues rose to $759.65 million, cargo revenues to $43.21 million, and ancillary revenues to $83.56 million.
PAL attributed the growth to strong post-holiday travel demand, which boosted first-quarter passenger traffic by 6.1% to 4.3 million.
“Our first quarter results reflect both the strength of demand for Philippine travel and the disciplined execution of our team,” said PAL president Richard Nuttall.
PAL operates an extensive Middle East network covering Dammam, Doha, Dubai, Kuwait, and Riyadh. The airline was among the carriers most affected by airspace closures that disrupted flights across the region for much of March.
Despite the challenges, PAL increased the number of flights it operated by 8.4% in the first quarter.
While largely spared from prolonged flight disruptions, the airline faced rising jet fuel costs. Total operating expenses increased by 7.1% to $793.85 million, with flying operations—the airline’s largest cost—rising 9.2% to $447.08 million.
PAL said this reflected “higher flight activity, late-quarter fuel price pressures linked to developments in the Middle East, and increased depreciation and amortization from fleet expansion.”