Philippine Airlines (PAL) recently acquired two brand-new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft to resume its service to two international destinations Brisbane, Australia and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia later this month.

PAL took options for 6 new Boeing 777-300ERs in all but will order the remaining 4 aircraft depending on whether the Philippines can get out of its category 2 status, according to Chief Commercial Group Adviser Richard Miller.

The Federal Aviation Administration has prevented PAL from expanding its coverage in the US after the former downgraded the country’s aviation status.

PAL’s option to acquire the 4 remaining Boeing 777s expires next year, he noted. “Although all 6 aircraft are intended for the North American market, we may look at more new regional destinations. such as India and China. The Middle East is an important market for us.”

Now, The flag carrier is re-launching flights to Brisbane on March 17 and to Riyadh on March 28, its 25th and 26th international destinations, respectively, in a gradually expanding route network.

“Brisbane is a popular destination, with its beaches and golf courses and has a strong passenger traffic demand,” Miller pointed out. On the other hand, Riyadh accounts for 50 percent of passenger traffic in the Middle East which has over 2 million overseas Filipino workers.

PAL’s international passenger traffic dipped 6 percent in the first 10 months of its current fiscal year (April, 2009 to January, 2010) although domestic traffic surged 18 percent, according to the Chief Commercial Group Adviser. International passengers account for 37 percent of PAL’s 9 million passengers last year.