PAL Holdings, Inc. (PSE: PAL), the parent company of Philippine Airlines, announced that its airline subsidiary posted a net income of $160.4 million for the year 2025, according to a press release filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 31, 2026.
Let’s break down what these numbers mean in simpler terms.
What Did Philippine Airlines Earn?
Think of net income as the money a company gets to keep after paying all its bills. Philippine Airlines kept $160.4 million last year, which is 6.1% more than what they kept in 2024. This is like getting a bigger allowance compared to last year.
The airline brought in total revenues (total money earned) of $3.22 billion in 2025, up 3% from $3.13 billion in 2024. That’s about 3 billion dollars more coming in compared to the previous year.
How Many People Flew with PAL?
Philippine Airlines carried 16.3 million passengers in 2025 – that’s like filling up a large stadium more than 300 times! This was 4.3% more passengers compared to 2024, meaning more people chose to fly with PAL.
The airline increased its capacity (number of seats available) by 3.3%, measured in something called Available Seat Kilometers (ASKs), which went from 44.74 billion to 46.19 billion. However, the passenger load factor – which is like measuring how full the planes were – dropped slightly from 79.1% to 78.7%. This means their planes were still pretty full, just slightly less than before.
Where Did the Money Come From?
Most of PAL’s money came from three main sources:
- Passenger tickets: $2.73 billion – This is the biggest money-maker, coming from people buying plane tickets
- Ancillary revenues: $301.2 million – This is extra money from things like seat upgrades, extra baggage, and special services. This grew by 24.9% and now makes up 9.4% of total revenues
- Cargo business: $165 million – Money from shipping packages and goods on planes, up 3.7% from $159.7 million in 2024. The airline moved 187.5 million kilograms of cargo, which represents 5.2% of total revenues
What Did It Cost to Run the Airline?
Running an airline is expensive. PAL’s operating expenses went up by 6.3% to almost $3 billion. This increase happened because they operated more flights, had higher maintenance costs, and faced other cost increases in Manila operations.
After paying all operating costs, PAL had an income from operations of $228 million, giving them an operating margin of 7%. The company generated $645.8 million in cash from operations and spent $447.5 million on investing activities, mainly for aircraft maintenance and buying new planes.
New Planes and Improvements
In 2025, PAL continued upgrading its fleet (collection of airplanes):
- Retrofitted (renovated) three A321ceo aircraft
- Received two additional A320-200 planes for domestic flights
- On December 21, 2025, received its first Airbus A350-1000 – making PAL the first airline in Southeast Asia to operate this fuel-efficient, next-generation aircraft
These new planes help PAL save on fuel costs and provide better experiences for passengers.
Best On-Time Performance in Asia Pacific
PAL was recognized by Cirium (a company that tracks airline performance) as the No. 1 most punctual airline in Asia Pacific for on-time performance in 2025. This means PAL was the best in the region at making sure flights departed and arrived on time.
What the Company Says
According to Richard Nuttall, President of Philippine Airlines: “Our 2025 results validate PAL’s successful transition from post-pandemic recovery to sustainable, long-term growth. Despite an industry-wide softening of passenger yields, we successfully defended our top line through disciplined revenue and network management.”
He added that the company is working on improving efficiency to manage cost pressures while investing in better customer experiences and maintaining excellent on-time performance.
About PAL Holdings and Philippine Airlines
PAL Holdings, Inc. is the parent company of Philippine Airlines, the country’s flag carrier and only full-service network airline. Founded in 1941, PAL is Asia’s first commercial airline and has been operating for 85 years.
The airline operates flights from hubs in Manila, Cebu, Clark, and Davao to 30 destinations within the Philippines and 41 international destinations across Asia, North America, Australia, and the Middle East.
PAL Holdings has 26,852,106,890 common shares outstanding, according to the SEC filing.
Source Note:This article is based on the company’s official press release and disclosures filed with the Philippine Stock Exchange’s Electronic Disclosure Generation Technology (PSE EDGE) system. For the complete and official version of the announcement, readers may visit the PSE EDGE website and search for the company’s filing directly.
