In a ceremony held at Lufthansa Technik Philippines’ facility in Pasay City, Philippine Airlines (PAL) has unveiled the first of eight Airbus A350-1000s joining its fleet, becoming the first airline in Southeast Asia to operate the long-range widebody.
The ceremony was attended by guests including Philippines’ President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos, Jr, First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, as well as Lucio C. Tan III, president of PAL Holdings, and government officials and dignitaries.
Five A350-1000 aircraft are scheduled to join the PAL fleet in 2026, with the remaining three arriving in 2027. The aircraft will operate long-haul transpacific services from the Philippines to the US Mainland and Canada.
The PAL A350 interiors
The A350s are configured for PAL in a 382-seat, three-class layout, with 42 seats in business class, 24 in premium economy, and 316 in economy class.
The airline brought in the Tokyo-based LIFT Aero Design studio to style the cabins and seats, with inspiration drawn from the airline’s ‘Sunrise’ motif, which also adorns the A350 livery.
The Sunrise design has been applied on the partitions between each seating area in the cabins. The new carpet design has a theme of the colours of the tropical seas of the Philippines, while LIFT Aero styled the seat covers taking cues from the carrier’s A350-900 and A321neo cabin schemes for a consistent passenger experience across the fleet.
As with PAL’s A350-900s, the seat trim and finish in business class blends slate blue with champagne gold, with pale wood-look inlays on the meal tables, and the airline’s logo in brushed silver on the brand panels.
“Branding in the cabin is a powerful visual cue to aid differentiation and help airlines stand out in photos on social media,” explained Daniel Baron, managing director of LIFT Aero Design.
You can view a full gallery of the PAL A350-1000 cabins in our gallery page.
Enhanced seat comfort throughout
The ‘Mabuhay Studios’ business-class cabin features 42 full-flat suites with sliding doors, arranged in a 1-2-1 layout for direct aisle access. Each suite is equipped with a 20-inch 4K inflight entertainment (IFE) display, power outlets, USB-A and USB-C charging ports, and wireless charging docks. Complimentary full flight messaging, browsing, and streaming are available to business-class customers via the inflight wi-fi service.
The premium-economy cabin features recliner seats, each equipped with a legrest, footrest, mini cocktail tables, multiple stowage spaces, in-seat power outlets, as well as both USB-A and USB-C charging ports. The seats also offer 13.3-inch 4K IFE screens, and customers in premium economy can access complimentary full-flight messaging and browsing services via the inflight wi-fi.
The seats in economy class have a 32-inch seat pitch, a generous recline, adjustable four-way headrests, built-in personal mobile device holders, and USB-A and USB-C charging ports.
22 mood-lighting scenarios
LIFT also crafted 12 new mood lighting scenarios for the A350-1000, bringing the total to 22. The new scenarios, which the studio describes as “impossibly sexy”, include a bronze Candlelight Dining scene for long-haul flights, a Rose Gold version for regional flights, Ocean and Spa for ‘zen-in-the-sky’ relaxation, Valentine’s Day, Head of State, National Flag for arrivals in Manila, and Sustainability.
Other scenes designed by LIFT, such as Boarding, Fiesta, Celebration and Christmas, were originally developed for the A350-900 and have been adapted to the -1000 cabins.
The A350-1000 cabin designs mark nearly 20 years of PAL working with LIFT Aero Design. “Not many design studios have the honour of designing three generations of cabins over nearly 20 years, including two batches of 777s, A330s, A321s and A350-900s,” said Baron.
