PAL starts flying to new routes in Australia

MANILA, Philippines—Flag carrier Philippine Airlines opened new routes to Australia this week in line with the company’s aggressive expansion using brand-new aircraft.

In a statement at the weekend, PAL, controlled by conglomerate San Miguel Corp., said it added the cities of Darwin, Perth, and Brisbane to its list of destinations in Australia.

The three new routes brought the number of PAL’s international destinations to 39.

The company also announced that its affiliate PAL Express, operated by Air Philippines, would start long-haul operations with flights between Manila and Dubai in November this year.

PAL said it had started operating service from Manila to Perth and back four times a week, while the Manila-Brisbane-Manila services are flown thrice a week. Flights to both cities are via Darwin.

“While flights to Darwin and Perth are maiden journeys, the flight to Brisbane marks PAL’s third return to the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland,” PAL said.

The Manila-Brisbane route was operated by PAL in 1982 to 1998. It was reopened in 2009 but only until 2010 before this year’s return.

The airline now deploys 7,400 seats a week on these routes, making it the largest carrier between the Philippines and Australia. These frequencies will benefit the 300,000 Filipinos who reside in Australia and the 5,000 Australian expatriates in the Philippines.

Last year, 191,150 Australian nationals visited the country, making Australia the country’s sixth-largest source of tourists.

“Passengers will experience the flag carrier’s trademark ‘at home’ service, marked by Filipino warmth and hospitality,” PAL president and chief operating officer Ramon S. Ang said in the statement.

Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory and will be PAL’s new gateway in Australia. Its proximity to South East Asia makes it an important Australian gateway to countries like Indonesia and East Timor.

PAL’s Perth service will link the Philippines with the capital city of Western Australia for the first time.

“The new connections are envisioned to increase passenger traffic between the Philippines and Australia and strengthen bilateral ties between both countries,” Ang said.

In the meantime, PAL will start flying four times weekly to Guangzhou, China, on July 16. On Oct. 1, PAL returns to the Middle East, with a daily service to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

Flights to Doha, Qatar will start on Nov. 1; and to Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam (Saudi Arabia), on Dec. 1. Flights to Dubai (United Arab Emirates), which will start on Nov. 1, will be operated by PAL Express.