Review of Philippine Airlines flight Melbourne → Manila in Business

We live in Iceland and we went to Australia for the end of the year holidays to see relatives who live there – we hadn’t been there for five years. And as Australia is quite far from Iceland – the distance between Keflavík and Melbourne would be 16,960 kms if there was a direct flight – I went to a few places in Asia before and after Australia.

I booked the following flights:
Keflavík to London, Icelandair, business class, B737
London to Abu Dhabi, Etihad, business class, A380
Abu Dhabi to Jakarta, Etihad by Wamos, business class, A330
Yogyakarta to Kuala Lumpur, Air Asia, economy, A320
Kuala Lumpur to Manila, Philippine Airlines, business class, A321
Manilla to Sydney, Philippine Airlines, business class, A330
Canberra to Melbourne, Qantas, economy, B717
Melbourne to Hobart, Virgin Australia, economy, B737
Hobart to Melbourne, Jetstar, economy, A320
Melbourne to Manilla, Philippine Airlines, business class, A330
Manilla to Kuala Lumpur, Philippine Airlines, business class, A320
Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok, Malaysia Airlines, business class, B737,
Bangkok to Hongkong, Emirates, first class, A380
Hongkong to Manila, Air Asia Philippines, economy, A320
Manila to Panglao, Cebu Pacific, economy, A321
Cebu to Singapore, Singapore Airlines, business class, A350
Singapore to London, Singapore Airlines, business class, A380
London to Keflavík, British Airways, business class, A320

Philippine Airlines offered the lowest price from Kuala Lumpur to Sydney in business class for about half of the price of its competitors such as Malaysia Airlines or Singapore Airlines.

Philippine Airlines use Terminal 2 at Melbourne Airport.

Business class check-in was available.

Some international destinations are quite short such as the flights to New Zealand but some others are definitely very long haul such as the flight to San Francisco.

Fast track security was available but it was extremely slow. Many cabin crew members also took a long time to go through security.

Automated passport control was available for certain passport holders but many passengers and cabin crew members were directed to a meticulous manual passport control.

Philippine Airlines use Merhaba lounge located upstairs between gates 9 and 11.

A nice view of this Cathay Pacific plane.

The lounge is simple but large. It was not crowded at that time. It offers plenty of comfortable seating.

These tables and seats are intended for those who eat at the lounge.

There are in-lounge bathrooms and showers.

Breakfast was available at the lounge.

The choice of alcoholic drinks.

I noticed that not one but two runways (16 and 27) were in use for take-off and landing. Is this usual for Melbourne Airport?

Our plane was ready: an A330-300, registration number RP-C8780, delivered in 2013.

Boarding started at 09.45.

Philippine Airline’s A330-300 (309 seater version) has seats in a 1-2-1 configuration in business class with four rows in the middle and five on the two sides with a total of 18 seats.

A window seat:

A pair of middle seats:

A pillow and a blanket were already waiting on the seat.

Seat controls, light controls, charging ports, headphone, amenity kit, reading light.

Headphones.

Slippers.

Legroom is excellent.

The amenity kit.

The first impressions were excellent: a comfortable and well prepared business class cabin.

A welcome drink was offered: orange, mango or apple juice.

An expected flight time of 7 hours and 55 minutes was announced.

Push-back was at 10.21 for a scheduled departure time of 10.20. We took off at 10.30.

Let’s have a look at the menu.

Lunch menu

Light snack as a second meal

Drinks

Lunch service started 25 minutes after take-off.

Smoked Chicken and Mesclun Salad.

Prawns in Kung Pao Sauce.

Cheese Bowl.

The meal was quite good but not as good as you’d get on Emirates or Singapore Airlines.

Let’s have a look at the in-flight entertainment.

There’s a choice of 76 movies. Not as many as on some other airlines but enough to keep you entertained during your flight.

You also have 87 different TV Shows.

The choice of music is not huge.

I watched The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford.

We were over the middle of Australia by the time I finished this movie.

I slept for about 45 minutes. The seat turned into a flat bed is long enough but not very wide. It’s OK to sleep on but not very comfortable.

I woke up over Northern Australia.

I then watched The Fabelmans about the life of Steven Spielberg.

Some packed cashew nuts were offered two hours before arrival but not drinks.

A cold towel was offered 1 hour and 25 minutes before arrival.

The second meal service was a bit chaotic. A white tablecloth was put on the table. Only apple, mango and orange juices were offered as drinks, followed later by coffee or tea, but we were not asked if we wanted any drinks from the menu.

I got a piece of bread, butter, an empty plate and a fruit salad. 

I was waiting for the meal to arrive but the empty plate was taken away.

The meal arrived some time later on a new plate.

Antipasto.

We’re almost there.

We landed in Manila at 15.05 and were at the gate at 15.11 for a scheduled arrival time of 15.35.

Our plane after landing.

We had six hours between our connecting flights. Instead of waiting at the not-so-good Philippine Airlines business lounge at Manila Airport we took a taxi and went to the modern Makati neighbourhood of Manila and ate at the excellent Blackbird restaurant. This restaurant is located in the building of the former Manila Airport opened in 1937.