Code-share deal to give PAL, ANA 67% of PH-Japan traffic

Philippine Airlines (PAL). FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) and Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) said a cooperation agreement, which includes code-share flights for the Philippines-Japan market, started on Wednesday.

The agreement, originally expected to start on Oct. 26, will also cover loyalty programs, airport lounges, joint sales, and marketing programs and coordination of airport operations, a statement on Wednesday showed. It is PAL’s second strategic agreement this year, following the expansion of a code-share deal with Etihad Airways.

Aviation consultancy CAPA-Center for Aviation said the agreement made sense, since it would give both carriers a combined 67 percent of the Philippine-Japan market. Competition is heating up partly because budget carriers like Gokongwei-led Cebu Pacific Air entered the Japan market last March.

Global network

“Through this new agreement, PAL hopes to further build its global network. By harmonizing our products, we get to offer our passengers wider and better travel options while boosting economic activity through trade and tourism,” PAL president and chief operating officer Jaime J. Bautista said in a statement.

The airline partners will place their respective ‘PR’ and ‘NH’ codes on each other’s flights to operate a combined total of 81 weekly flights between the two countries.

Under the agreement, passengers can book flights from Manila to Narita, Haneda, Kansai, Fukuoka and Nagoya; from Cebu to Narita, Kansai and Nagoya; and from Manila to main Philippine domestic points; and vice versa.

Passengers can also take ANA flights from Manila to Narita or Haneda, as well as to several Japanese domestic destinations out of Narita, Haneda, Fukuoka and Nagoya.

Aside from more flight options, passengers can enjoy the benefits of check-through baggage, seamless transfer between PAL’s exclusive Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2 and ANA’s hub at Terminal 3.

ANA currently operates a fleet of B787, B777, B747, B767 and A320.

PAL flies once a day to Nagoya and Kansai; 11 times a week to Haneda; and two times a day to Narita out of Manila and twice a day to Narita out of Cebu. PAL will launch direct flights from Cebu to Osaka and Nagoya in December.