* Studying purchase or lease of Airbus A350s or Boeing (NYSE:BA) 787s
* Delivery of new planes could be 2017-18
* To replace Airbus A340 aircraft serving US and Europe
* Looking to buy or lease nine Bombardier turboprops
(Adds details, background)
MANILA, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Airbus Group SE AIR.PA and
Boeing Co BA.N are competing for contracts to supply
Philippine Airlines Inc (PAL) PHL.UL with eight wide body,
twin-engine aircraft, PAL's president said on Thursday.
The acquisition or lease of the fuel-efficient Boeing 787
Dreamliner or Airbus A350 XWB aircraft is a result of a
strategic review after Philippines' fourth richest man Lucio Tan
took over the carrier last year.
"The Dreamliner and XWB will be contributing to savings in
fuel, savings in maintenance and will allow us to improve our
product because we can fly non-stop to more destinations," PAL
President Jaime Bautista told reporters.
He said an evaluation will be completed this year and
delivery of the aircraft could be in 2017-2018.
PAL's six A340s currently serve the Los Angeles, San
Francisco, London, New York and Vancouver routes. It also flies
Boeing 777s on its long-haul routes, having retired its last
four-engine Boeing 747 jumbo in September last year.
As of end-2014, PAL had 49 aircraft, 43 of which are Airbus
planes and six are Boeing. On the global scale, U.S planemaker
Boeing posted 380 aircraft orders in January to July this year,
outpacing its European rival's 367 net orders.
The Philippine carrier's subsidiary PAL Express was also
considering buying or leasing nine Q300 or Q400 Bombardier
turboprops to replace ageing similar models in its fleet.
PAL will finalise next year its decision for the new
Bombardier turboprop aircraft, which will serve tourist
destinations like Boracay in the central Philippines and the
northern province of Batanes that are accessible through small
island airports, Bautista said.
Shares in PAL Holdings closed 4.55 percent higher on
Thursday, outpacing the benchmark index's .PSI 2.24 percent
gain.