The flag carrier airline of the Philippines announced that it will now be controlled by Lucio Tan as he was recently appointed as the new president of the company’s holding firm.
The 85-year-old Filipino Chinese billionaire replaces his son, Lucio Tan Jr., who died last November.
Aside from being the new president, Tan will concurrently perform his roles as the existing chairman of the Philippine Airlines (PAL) Holdings Inc.
PAL also shared that it has raised its capital stock from P13 billion to P30 billion, equivalent to an increase of 130%.
The rose in stock which shall be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is said to be part of the company’s tactic to fight off competition from budget carriers and sustain profitability.
PAL Holdings Inc. said earlier that despite a consolidated revenue of P117.92 billion for the first nine months of 2019, it has also recorded a net loss amounting to P7.86 billion in the same period.
Its operating expenses also soared to 2.2% in 2019 compared with 2018.
“This was due to the increase in maintenance expense by 8.8 percent and aircraft and traffic servicing expenses by 2.7 percent driven by the growth in fleet, passenger and network operations. Reservation and sales likewise increased by 10.7 percent due to the growth in passenger volume,” the company said.
According to reports, PAL is reasserting itself as a full-service airline and seeks to get the coveted 5-star rating from aviation industry tracker Skytrax.
The flag carrier has a total of 95 aircraft that flies to 43 international and 35 domestic destinations.
