Philippine Airlines Returns to Boeing With Up to 20 Dreamliners

Philippine Airlines signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Boeing at the Farnborough International Airshow on July 20 for up to 20 Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners, 15 firm commitments plus five options, with deliveries planned from 2031 through 2034. PAL calls it the airline’s first Boeing aircraft order since 2007. Boeing, careful with the legal form, says the agreement will support fleet modernization and expansion once finalized.

That timing is the useful fact. The first airplane is not due until 2031. These Dreamliners will not launch Chicago, defend Los Angeles against Delta, or carry the next few years of A350 growth. They are a long-horizon bet placed beside a North America rebuild that is already underway.

Lucio C. Tan III, president and chief operating officer of PAL Holdings, said the 787-10 will strengthen the airline’s medium- and long-haul fleet with better efficiency and a stronger travel experience. Stephanie Pope, president and chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, framed the selection as an important step in an eighty-year partnership. GE Aerospace separately announced that PAL had selected the GEnx-1B to power the jets.

Boeing markets the 787-10 as carrying roughly 300 to 375 passengers and flying up to about 7,500 nautical miles, with composite construction that yields about 25 percent less fuel use than the airplanes it typically replaces. Those are manufacturer figures, not a published PAL cabin plan. The airline has not released seat maps or a route assignment for the type.

What it has said, and what Aviation Week reported from president Richard Nuttall, is that the 787-10 fits the work now done by aging Airbus A330-300s and, over time, some Boeing 777-300ERs: Middle East, Australia, nearer North American destinations, and capacity-constrained regional flying, with cargo uplift as part of the economics. That is a replacement-and-growth story for the early 2030s, not a reassignment of next winter’s long-haul schedule.

The nearer work is already on Airbus metal. PAL ordered nine A350-1000s in June 2023, with deliveries continuing through 2027, and it already flies A350-900s on its longest routes. Boeing’s Farnborough release notes that the Dreamliners will complement a fleet of ten 777s. The picture is a mixed widebody future, not a sudden brand switch.

North America explains why the order still matters now. Philippine Airlines plans to begin Manila–Chicago O’Hare nonstops three times weekly on November 9, 2026, using the A350-900. It has also been adding frequency on Vancouver, Toronto, and New York while holding Los Angeles as its densest U.S. franchise, eighteen weekly round trips as of June 2026. Delta plans to enter Los Angeles–Manila in March 2027, starting three times weekly and rising to daily in June, subject to government approval. PAL is spending commercial and political capital on those markets years before the first 787-10 arrives.

The alliance backdrop fits the same horizon. In June 2026, oneworld invited Philippine Airlines to join as a member-designate after an MoU at the IATA Annual General Meeting in Rio de Janeiro. Full membership and reciprocal benefits still lie ahead; Boeing’s July 20 boilerplate simply repeats the invitation. For travelers, the practical oneworld changes will matter more after formal entry than they do today.

None of this turns Farnborough into a booked Boeing backlog entry. An MoU is a commitment to negotiate a purchase agreement. Delivery slots, final pricing, and configuration details will come later. Deal value has not been disclosed in primary releases, and it should not be invented from list prices.

For a flag carrier that spent years repairing its balance sheet and rebuilding long-haul confidence, locking in efficient medium- and long-haul capacity for 2031–2034 is a statement about staying power. The airplanes that will matter first remain the A350s already arriving and the North America schedules already on sale. The Dreamliners are the next chapter PAL wants written into the fleet plan before the decade turns.