Philippine Airlines

Is Philippine Airlines safe?

Yes. The last time people on board died in a Philippine Airlines (PAL) accident was in May 1990, when a fuel-tank explosion destroyed a Boeing 737 at the Manila gate and killed 8. The last deaths in a PAL accident were three people on the ground when an A320 overran at Bacolod in 1998. Its regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), spent six years in the FAA's Category 2FAA IASAThe US FAA's check of whether a country's aviation regulator meets ICAO standards. Category 1 means it does; Category 2 means it does not.More in the glossary and was on the EU's banned list until 2013, but both are long past. The weak point today is the regional operation: short, wet runways and a run of excursions at PAL Express. We score PAL 77.

Which airline flies your PAL flight?

Airline	Code	Certificate	What it flies
Philippine Airlines	PR	CAAP, Philippines	A350-900/-1000, 777-300ER, A330-300, A321neo, A320/A321ceo
PAL Express	2P	CAAP, Philippines	Dash 8-400 turboprops, A320/A321ceo

PAL Express flights are often sold with PR flight numbers, so check the "operated by" line. PAL Express is the trading name of the former Air Philippines, which was renamed Airphil Express and then PAL Express. Under its old name and ownership, an Air Philippines Boeing 737-200 crashed into a hillside near Davao on 19 April 2000, killing all 131 on board. We mention it for completeness; it is 26 years old and falls outside the 20-year window of our accident score.

What is PAL's accident record?

Most of PAL's fatal crashes belong to the turboprop era of the 1960s to 1980s. The last deaths on board came on 11 May 1990, when vapour in the empty centre fuel tank of a Boeing 737-300 exploded during pushback at Manila, killing 8 of the 120 people on board. In the past 30 years, the record looks like this (Aviation Safety Network data):

• 22 March 1998, Bacolod. An A320 landed with one thrust reverser locked out under the minimum equipment list. The pilot flying left the other thrust lever in climb, so the spoilers did not deploy and the jet ran off the end of the runway, through a fence and into a neighbourhood of shanties. Everyone on board survived; three people on the ground died. The investigators blamed the pilot's handling and a poor grasp of what the deferred defect meant for the landing.
• 26 October 2007, Butuan. An A320 overran the 6,450-foot runway and ended up among trees. No deaths; the aircraft was written offHull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary.
• 7 October 2013, Manila. After an A330 from Singapore had parked at the gate, smoke appeared in the rear cargo hold. The fire was traced to dangerous goods in passenger baggage, and the aircraft was written off. Investigators also said the captain did not trigger the fire extinguishers straight away.

A hijacking of an A330 in May 2000, in which the hijacker died after jumping from the aircraft with a home-made parachute, is unlawful interference and not counted.

What does PAL fly?

The long-haul fleet is the newest part. PAL flies Airbus A350-900s to North America and Europe, took its first A350-1000 in December 2025, and is replacing its Boeing 777-300ERs, which are about a decade old. The A330-300s are mid-life. On short-haul routes, A321neos are joining A320s and A321ceos, three of which were refurbished in 2025.

PAL Express flies Dash 8-400 turboprops to small island airports that jets cannot use, plus Airbus narrowbodies. We found no average fleet age published by the airline, and fleet tracker figures disagree, so we scored the fleet on its mix: modern on long-haul, older on domestic, 76.

Where are the risks now?

Runway excursionsRunway excursionWhen an aircraft leaves the runway surface during take-off or landing, either off the end (an overrun) or off the side (a veer-off).More in the glossary, mostly on regional routes. A PAL Express Dash 8-400, RP-C5911, ran off the runway on landing at Mactan (Cebu) on 10 December 2021, and the same aircraft overran at Bacolod in heavy rain on 27 December 2024 with 69 people on board; the airline said the brakes could not cope with the wet surface. Nobody was hurt either time. A PAL Express jet from Dumaguete also diverted to Iloilo with a pressurisation fault on 19 April 2026; CAAP said all 175 passengers got off safely and summoned the pilots for reports. On the mainline, an A321 struck its tail landing at Cebu in December 2016.

These are not unusual events for an airline that flies to dozens of provincial airports in the tropics, but they are why serious incidents score 70, not 80 or more.

How good is the oversight?

In January 2008 the FAA moved the Philippines to Category 2FAA IASAThe US FAA's check of whether a country's aviation regulator meets ICAO standards. Category 1 means it does; Category 2 means it does not.More in the glossary after ICAO raised a significant safety concern about the regulator. In 2010 the EU added every Philippine airline to its Air Safety ListEU Air Safety ListThe European Commission's list of airlines banned or restricted from flying in EU airspace because they do not meet international safety standards.More in the glossary. CAAP was rebuilt, and PAL came off the EU list in July 2013. The FAA restored Category 1 on 9 April 2014, and the last Philippine airlines left the EU list in June 2015. The FAA's April 2025 list still shows the Philippines in Category 1, and the EU list of June 2026 names no Philippine airline.

Both PAL and PAL Express are IATA members, so both pass an IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary audit every two years.

How to fly PAL safely

• Check the operator on domestic tickets. A PR number can be a PAL Express turboprop to a short island runway.
• Expect weather delays in typhoon season. From about June to November, tropical storms close provincial airports; a cancelled flight is the system working.
• Keep your seat belt on when seated. Thunderstorms build fast over the islands.

How we scored it

The accident record (82) is strong, but the written-off A320 and A330 and the excursions keep it below the best. Oversight (78) carries the history of the 2008–2014 downgrade. Compare Cebu Pacific, its low-cost rival from the same hub, and Malaysia Airlines at 71.