Philippine Airlines (PAL) has narrowed down its short list of companies interested in bidding for its inflight duty free contract to three companies, including the incumbent operator the Inflight Sales Group (ISG), DFASS and the Regent Travel Retail Group, which currently partners with Duty Free Philippines’ ground shops.

 

The airline has also amended the concession length from three to five years with the inclusion of a two-year extension, according to Resty Tizon, Inflight Duty Free Director.

 

The final submission date for offers is Friday 15 July this week, with each company scheduled to give ‘a walkthrough presentation’ next week.

 

FROM FIVE DOWN TO THREE BIDDERS

Tizon adds that following this process, the Philippine Airlines evaluation panel will make its decision and an award, with the next contract perod scheduled to begin at the end of this year.

 

“We originally had interest from several companies, including Tourvest and Lagardère but they decided not to bid in the end,” said Tizon, speaking exclusively to TRBusiness today.

 

As reported already, the average spend per head is just under $2 at present, although PAL is hoping to attract more high spending Chinese passengers in future.

 

Meanwhile, the airline is in acquisition mode, having added five Airbus 321s last year, two B777s this year (2016) and two A321s in 2017. PAL’s current fleet includes B777s, A340s, A330s, A321s and A320s.

 

According to the airline, its total earnings increased from $20.3m in 2014 to $134.4m in 2016. Meanwhile, PAL President & CEO Jaime J. Bautista also points to last year as the second most profitable for the airline after it recovered from a $229.7m loss in 2013.

 

[See also: http://www.trbusiness.com/regional-news/international/philippine-airlines-to-tender-3-year-contract/105172]