PAL to mount daily Manila-Sydney flights

FLAG carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) will have daily flights between Manila and Sydney, Australia starting Oct. 25 this year, from the current five weekly flights.

PAL said the move was aimed at giving passengers more flexibility in their travel schedule and was not linked to any capacity expansion. PAL began operations between Manila and Sydney on Oct. 6, 1965, or almost 50 years ago.

“A daily frequency with a choice of departure and arrival times provides our passengers the flexibility to seamlessly connect to many cities on PAL’s domestic and international network,” PAL president Jaime Bautista said in a statement.

“Upon arrival in Manila, Australian business and leisure travelers can enjoy a Manila stopover for several days or make a same-day connection on PAL flights to the many travel spots within the Philippine archipelago,” he said.

Aside from Sydney, PAL’s presence in Australia covers Darwin, Brisbane and Melbourne.

Flights to Cairns and Auckland, which will be launched in December this year, marks the expansion of PAL flights in the Oceania region.

The carrier, controlled by tycoon Lucio Tan, had credited its international business for helping bolster its bottom line in the first half of 2015.

In a previous regulatory filing, the carrier’s listed operator PAL Holdings Inc. said net income from January to June 2015 hit P5.76 billion compared to P550.5 million in the same period last year. Revenues, it said, were up 14.3 percent to P55.96 billion.

Passenger revenues, which accounted for 84 percent of revenues, rose 15 percent to P47.17 billion, PAL Holdings said in the filing.

“Increase in number of passengers by 37 percent mainly for Americas, Australia, Japan and Middle East routes coupled by the effect interlining arrangement with PAL Express in the domestic sectors contributed to the favorable revenue performance during the current period,” PAL Holdings said.