The airline, which marks its 80th anniversary this year and operates Heathrow-Manila, has been badly hit by the pandemic.

Gilbert Santa Maria, president and chief operating officer said: “Philippine Airlines felt the impact starting from February last year, with a ban on flights to China.”

Passenger numbers collapsed from 30 million in 2019 to just 7 million last year, with current operations at 21% capacity, he said.

The carrier has sought protection in the US under a procedure known as Chapter 11 as this is where its debts mostly stem from. It is undergoing the same process in the Philippines.

Philippine Airlines has already made 2,300 redundancies and deferred $360 million in aircraft lease and loan payments. Another $130 million was injected by major shareholder PAL Holdings.

Chief finance officer Nilo Thaddeus Rodriguez said Chapter 11 was designed to cut debts “by at least $2 billion”.

He added the fleet would be reduced by a quarter and that $505 million in refinancing and $150 million in debt funding had been negotiated for when the carrier emerged from Chapter 11. 

He stressed the airline would continue to fly as normal during the process.