PAL says it has enough jet fuel until June

MANILA, Philippines – Lucio Tan-led Philippine Airlines (PAL) announced on Wednesday, March 25, that it had enough jet fuel for its operations until June, and was not canceling any flights except for select flights to the Middle East affected by the armed conflict.

“PAL has secured sufficient jet fuel supply to support scheduled operations, including long-haul flights, for the foreseeable future,” the country’s flag carrier said in a statement. 

“Philippine Airlines remains committed to connecting the communities we serve.”

It added, however, that “global supply conditions remain dynamic,” and that it was monitoring developments “affecting jet fuel supply and pricing.”

Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said on Tuesday, March 24, that the Philippines still had 38 days of jet fuel as of March 20. 

In an interview with CNBC emailed on Wednesday, PAL president Richard Nuttall said, “At the moment, we still have fuel, and our understanding is that we have jet fuel for the next couple of months.”

He said PAL also has shipments coming in that will keep the airline “going until end of June.”

“Our understanding from the petroleum companies is that they’re still refining, and they will have the fuel in April that will get us through until the end of May,” Nuttall said. 

Beyond May, however, he said it was difficult to see what would happen if the conflict in the Middle East continues. 

“I guess supply chains will have to find a new normal, and we’re yet to see what that is, but we’ll be working very hard, obviously, to secure fuel,” he said. 

Nuttall said the “biggest scare” would be the impact on long-haul flights. Short flights, he said, can carry enough fuel to their destinations and back. 

In the case of PAL, he said most of their long-haul flights were to the US and Canada, countries that he said “will not be running out of jet fuel.”

PAL also operates PAL Express, which serves purely domestic routes.

PAL operates from four hub airports — Manila, Cebu, Clark, and Davao — in the Philippines. As of last year, it had a total of 25 domestic destinations and 28 points in Asia, Australia/Oceania, the Middle East, Europe, and North America.

In 2024, PAL consumed 59.2 million gallons of jet fuel, plus 83,000 gallons of diesel and 4,000 gallons of gasoline for ground service equipment and other company-owned vehicles. 

PAL’s statement came a day after rival Cebu Pacific announced that it would cancel a number of select flights starting April 18 as oil prices soar and jet fuel supply tightens.

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Cebu Pacific, prior to the cancellations, had 63 destinations — 37 domestic and 26 international — through 125 routes with over 3,200 weekly flights. It had a domestic market share of 56% as of end-2025. 

PAL used to be the Philippines’ dominant airline until the aviation industry was liberalized in the 1990s, during the Fidel Ramos administration. Since then, the Gokongwei Group’s low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific has overtaken PAL and is now the leading airline in the country.

PAL recently announced that it would temporarily suspend flights between Manila and Doha and Dubai (PR 658/659 Manila-Dubai-Manila; PR 684 Manila-Doha; PR 685 Doha-Manila) until April 30, and flights between Manila and Riyadh (PR 654/655 Manila-Riyadh-Manila) until March 31. It also canceled PR 685 Doha-Manila on May 1, 2026.

It said this move was a “precautionary measure” for the safety of its passengers, crew, and aircraft. – Rappler.com

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