Philippine Airlines has just made one of the world's longest commercial hops a little fresher. As of 5 June 2026, the flag carrier is flying its brand-new Airbus A350-1000 nonstop between Manila and Toronto — a roughly 13,200 km marathon that now becomes the flagship's second North American posting, right behind New York JFK.

The jet doing the heavy lifting is PAL's second A350-1000, which touched down in Manila on 29 May 2026. The first one is already grinding out the ultra-long-haul to New York's JFK. Two frames, two of the toughest sectors PAL flies — and seven more A350-1000s still to come.

Canada gets the flagship

Toronto Pearson (YYZ) is no soft posting. The Manila–Toronto great-circle runs around 13,200 km (~8,200 miles), with eastbound flight times pushing past 15 hours. PAL is the only carrier flying it nonstop, and now it's doing so with its newest, largest, most efficient widebody.

The schedule is three times weekly, with 382 seats across three cabins — 42 Business, 24 Premium Economy and 316 Economy.

Philippine Airlines welcomes its first Airbus A350-1000 in Southeast Asia.

Nine jets built for the long game

The Toronto move is one piece of a much bigger bet. PAL finalised a firm order for nine A350-1000s at the 2023 Paris Air Show, signed by airline president Captain Stanley K. Ng, specifically under its "Ultra Long Haul Fleet" project to power nonstop runs from Manila to North America's East Coast and Canada. The A350-1000 brings more range and more seats than the A350-900s PAL already flies, letting it match capacity to demand on its longest sectors.

PAL remains the first and only operator of the A350-1000 in Southeast Asia, a bragging right that gives the carrier a genuine equipment edge on these punishing transpacific and transpolar runs. Airbus, for its part, has been happy to frame the type as the benchmark for this kind of flying.

Why it matters

For travellers, it's an upgrade in everything that counts on a 15-hour day: a quieter, newer cabin, better pressurisation and a fresh Premium Economy product on a route that previously made do with older metal. For PAL, it's the next step in a fleet-modernisation push that's quietly turning the Philippine flag carrier into one of the youngest widebody operators in Asia.

New York first. Toronto now. With seven more A350-1000s inbound, the question isn't whether PAL adds more ultra-long-haul destinations — it's which city gets the flagship next.

Sources: AeroTime; Airbus; Inquirer Business; ch-aviation; AeroRoutes.