After flying in from Shanghai on Philippine Airlines’ newer Boeing 777-300ER, it is finally time for the last leg of my journey. Like my outbound flight from Jakarta, this flight is operated by the airline’s fleet of regional Airbus A321ceos. The aircraft features arguably inferior cabin products and is soon due for retrofits. Sadly, despite being scheduled for mid-2025, no aircraft has been refurbished at the time this review was published. As this is a continuation from my previous instalments, I won’t be covering the check-in process again.

Lounge

At its hub in Terminal 1, Philippine Airlines operates its flagship Mabuhay Lounge. Opened in 2023, the lounge marked a notable shift for the airline, which historically outsourced its lounge services in Terminal 1 to third parties. While it doesn’t compare to the excellent Cathay Pacific Lounge Manila, for example, the lounge was quite nice and completely serviceable. I have reviewed the Mabuhay Lounge in a previous instalment, which you can read here.

Boarding

After arriving from Shanghai, I had barely an hour to spare between my flights. Frankly, Ninoy Aquino International Airport isn’t the best transit hub in the region, though thankfully, Terminal 1 is relatively compact. This made it easy to find our gate… or so I thought. As I arrived at our assigned gate, we were informed that the flight had been moved to another gate at the end of the opposite concourse! So there I was, rushing like a madman to reach the new gate. Once I arrived, it turned out that all of that was unnecessary. As I arrived, I was met with a throng of people in the gate area, with barely any space to move around.

Although boarding was scheduled for 20.00, it actually started five minutes before that. I guess early boarding is a quirk with Philippine Airlines? Anyway, as Business Class was called forward for boarding, I had to excuse myself and squeeze through the crowd to actually make it to the checkpoint. As it turns out, we were funnelled down an escalator to a bus, which will be taking us to our plane.

Following a five-minute drive to our plane, we were made to wait for another 20 minutes before we could board. At least, when we did board, there was a line of people with umbrellas ensuring that the passengers weren’t soaked in the rain as they transferred from the bus to the plane. Today’s flight is operated by RP-C9903, an Airbus A321-200 delivered new to Philippine Airlines in September 2013.

Philippine Airlines A321 cabin

As I’ve mentioned earlier, the flight is operated by Philippine Airlines’ regional Airbus A321-200s. These planes are configured in a high-density, two-class layout with 199 seats in total. Of that, Business Class consists of 12 recliner seats in a 2-2 configuration with three rows. As I’ve explained in depth about the cabin in my first review, I’ll just rehash the details below.

Business Class features Weber 7070 seats upholstered in beige leather, giving the cabin a warm and old-fashioned look. Apart from the bulkhead seats, the seats feature a pitch of 37 inches, which is tighter than what most Asian airlines have in Business Class. As such, I’d definitely recommend choosing a bulkhead seat if you’re on the taller side. At the very least, I do appreciate that the cabin is equipped with personal overhead air vents.

Upon boarding, waiting on each seat is a pillow and a large woven blanket, similar to the offerings of other airlines in the region. The relatively large pillows certainly add to the excellent padding of the seat and add some much-needed lumbar support. The latter is especially important, as I found the seat’s default position to be too upright, which certainly made it uncomfortable for lounging during taxi, takeoff, and landing.

Seat details

Similar to any recliner Business Class seats, the sturdy tray table is pulled out of the side armrest; additionally, it can be folded and swivelled out, in case you want to leave your seat during meal service. On the same armrest, you’ll also find the manual recline mechanism for the seat, providing an extra degree of comfort to the seat. 😉

Furthermore, there is also a large cocktail table on the centre armrest that can be used to place glasses or a mobile phone; a supplementary cocktail table can also be pulled out of here, as well. Additionally, the centre armrest is also where you’ll find the in-seat USB-A port, as well as a pair of universal power outlets.

Finally, I’ll add that the seats are not equipped with footrests or inflight entertainment screens. As such, they are as basic as you’d get in Business Class on an Asian carrier. Apart from the streamed myPAL Media system, there is barely any inflight entertainment. Even inflight magazines are not provided anymore, which seems like a major oversight if you ask me!

Departure from Manila

Boarding went underway with Philippine Airlines’ soft xylophone-themed boarding music playing in the background. Janella soon came over to introduce herself and offer us some drinks – Four Seasons juice or Pineapple Orange. After that, Andronico presented us with some hot towels while Janella later returned to take the meal orders for our flight.

As we waited for the bags to be loaded, Captain Ramos welcomed us on board the flight, followed by an announcement by purser Jovina. In particular, we were expecting a flight time of 3 hours and 40 minutes, and expecting some turbulence along the way. As the view outside was clouded by the continuing rain, I took the time to browse the entertainment streaming network.

The doors were closed some 20 minutes after we boarded, prompting the crew to prepare for departure. As we pushed back four minutes later at 20.48, the crew began their manual safety demonstration, aided by a prerecorded narration of the safety instructions. Coincidentally, we passed by RP-C7782, the Boeing 777-300ER that flew us from Shanghai.

We reached Runway 24 three minutes later and took off shortly thereafter. We flew out west before banking south; this treated us to a view of Manila, still shrouded in rain.

Entertainment

Although there aren’t any in-seat monitors on this fleet of aircraft, inflight entertainment can still be streamed on laptops, phones, and tablets through the dedicated myPAL_Media network. Connecting to it is simple, and no login credentials are required. Simply opening myPAL.everhub.aero on a browser connects you to the system.

There was a modest selection of films and TV shows available, as well as music and games. On my flight, there were a total of 96 films across the four categories of ‘Fresh from the Box’, ‘Blast from the Past’, ‘Across Asia’, and ‘Filipino Flicks’. Between those, 48 films were in the second category, which is made up of new-ish releases from the last several years. Although it is not an incredible selection, it is certainly better than nothing. For your reference, you can check out the full list of films here.

Inflight Service

Just like my previous flights, a barrage of safety and promotional announcements filled the cabin as we climbed to our cruising altitude. This obviously made it difficult for me to sleep, exacerbated by a surprising yet gentle nudge to my elbow. Apparently, the passenger behind me had decided it was a great idea to treat my armrest as her footrest… Yikes!!

Well to be fair, it wasn’t as if I was going to get any sleep anyway since the inflight service started as soon as the seatbelt signs were turned off 14 minutes after takeoff. Before supper began, Andronico came by to set up our tables and offer us a ramekin of warm cashews. For reference, the following was the menu for our flight.

Supper

Considering our flight time, the meal service was quite drawn out, with the three courses brought out individually. This started with the appetiser of Butterfly Prawns on Mango Vinta, which looked suspiciously similar to the appetiser on my flight to Shanghai. Regardless, the dish was fresh and light, which I enjoyed.

Service was efficient, despite the crew having to be seated whenever the seatbelt signs were turned on (and boy, were they turned on regularly!). As such, my main course was brought out 12 minutes later, soon after I finished the appetiser. As I’ve tried the Milkfish Sarciado and seen the Stuffed Chicken, I decided to get the Beef Penang this time. The dish was alright, with the rice and curry being rather flavourful ; this is somewhat of a compliment considering the bad cut of beef that was used.

Finally, the meal was wrapped up with a serving of Carmen’s Best Ice Cream, which I really like. This is on top of the mediocre Crema de Manga dessert offered on the tray with the appetiser.

Lavatory

After the meal, I went to the dedicated lavatory in front to refresh myself. As expected, there was nothing more than a standard Airbus A321 washroom, bar a few amenities were offered by the sink; this included Philippine Airlines-branded cologne and body lotion.

Service

Jovina, Janella, and Andronico, who were in charge of serving Business Class, were very warm and friendly. Despite the miserable timing of our flight, they were still energetic and ensured to provide good service within the flight’s constraints. Granted, my drink order was forgotten during the meal service; however, I acknowledge that they were working under a lot of pressure, especially given how the seatbelt signs were turned on every 10 minutes or so.

Arrival in Jakarta

Precisely 20 minutes before our arrival, Captain Ramos announced that we were about to begin descent. At this time, the cabin was prepared for landing, requiring us to put our seats back to the default position. Given how turbulence-ridden our flight was, the seatbelt signs remained turned on as we approached Jakarta.

We touched down at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport twenty minutes later at 20.29. Despite the choppy weather, we had a very smooth landing on Runway 25R. Jovina’s voice soon filled the cabin, noting our arrival and welcoming us to Jakarta, before being replaced by the airline’s boarding music – although I was initially not a big fan of the tune, it really has grown on me!

Within five minutes of landing, we soon reached our parking spot in Terminal 3 at a gate next to a Qatar Airways Airbus A350-900. As the seatbelt signs were turned off, I gathered my bags and thanked the crew before disembarking the plane.

Verdict

Overall, my view on Philippine Airlines’ regional Business Class product hasn’t changed from my first flight. Again, the airline provides incredible value for money for the service offered, although it is far from rivalling Asia’s many leading airlines. This is especially true when it comes to the uncomfortable hard product installed on this subfleet. Regardless, I likewise found the inflight service to be quite impressive, considering how friendly Jovina, Janella and Andronico were. As such, I definitely won’t hesitate to fly the airline again, especially if the price is right.

With that, we’ve wrapped ‘A Summer in Shanghai’. Thank you very much for reading Jakarta Potato, and we look forward to sharing our next live trip report very soon! As always, safe travels!

Read more from ‘A Summer in Shanghai’ here!