Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) will add direct flights to Toronto, Canada by end of this year and service New York, Paris, France, Rome and other destinations in Europe by February, 2013, declared new President Ramon S. Ang. 

He made the announcement as he welcomed PAL’s third Boeing 777-300ER, the latest addition to the airline’s fleet last week.

In the months ahead, three more Boeing 777s, the aircraft of choice for long-haul flights worth around USD$300 million each, will be delivered to PAL, he added. 

The first three were already delivered in November, 2009, January, 2012 and June, 2012. The 370-seater B777s currently fly to Vancouver, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia and Japan (via Cebu). 

While to date, PAL has no allocations for the Canadian, American and European destinations it targets to serve, Ang is confident. “The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) will help us,” he said by way of explanation but declined to elaborate. 

 At present, “Our number one priority is to turn around PAL by tapping into the strengths of San Miguel Corporation (which recently took management control of the airline) and the Lucio Tan Group of Companies. As PAL President, I am committed to transforming our airline’s business operations.”