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MANILA, Philippines — Pursuing an aggressive route expansion, flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) on Wednesday announced the launching of flights to six (6) new destinations in Australia, China and the Middle East.
In a statement sent to media, PAL president Ramon S. Ang said PAL’s new destinations are Kuala Lumpur (May 1); Brisbane, Darwin and Perth in Australia and Guangzhou, China (June 1); and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (October 1).
Ang said PAL is launching the new routes in response to the clamor for more flights to these destinations. “Australia, Kuala Lumpur and Guangzhou are major destinations for business and leisure. Abu Dhabi, on the other hand, has a large concentration of OFWs, making it a prime destination in the Middle East,” he explained.
Tickets for Kuala Lumpur and the new Australian routes are now on sale, while tickets for Guangzhou and Abu Dhabi will be sold starting March 15. PAL is offering special promo rates for early birds.
The new service to Kuala Lumpur (PR 517) departs Manila every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 7:55 a.m. Manila-Guangzhou (PR 382) flies every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday at 10:30PM and arrives 12:45 a.m..
Manila-Darwin (PR 221), departs Manila every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:05 p.m. and arrives Darwin at 4:00 a.m. (next day); Manila-Brisbane (via Darwin) follows the same departure schedule but arrives in Brisbane at 9:20 a.m. (next day).
Manila-Perth (PR 219 via Darwin) leaves Manila every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday at 10:25 p.m. and arrives in Perth at 7:50 a.m. (next day).
PAL’s Abu Dhabi flight (PR 656) departs Manila daily at 4:25 p.m. and arrives in Abu Dhabi at 9:45 p.m.
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The addition of six new routes brings to 34 PAL’s total number of international destinations (including Manila). Aside from route expansion, fleet modernization and inflight service enhancements are the three pillars of growth earlier identified by Ang.
With its new campaign tagline ‘‘Your home in the sky,” PAL hopes to bring its uniquely Filipino style of warm “at home” service to its passengers to and from the Philippines.