PAL increases flights ahead of Christmas travel season

Philippine Airlines CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

MANILA—Philippine Airlines is ramping up services to key destinations in the Philippines and abroad, including Japan and the United States, ahead of the peak Christmas holiday season, the company announced Monday.

A press statement said services to Japan would get the biggest boost with the launch of two pioneering routes from PAL’s main southern hub Cebu. These are to Osaka four times weekly from December 19 and to Nagoya three times weekly from December 20. Both complement the two daily flights to Tokyo Narita from Cebu.

PAL has also added four weekly frequencies to Tokyo Haneda from Manila, for a total of 11 flights every week between the two capitals, as the airline gradually restores its erstwhile twice-daily service to Tokyo’s downtown airport.

Elsewhere in Japan, PAL has shifted to newer, larger aircraft on various routes, with the Airbus 321 replacing the A320 on the Manila-Fukuoka route; the A330-300 substituting the A340-300 on the Manila-Nagoya route; and the A330-300 supplanting the A321 on the morning service of Manila-Narita, upgrading the route to an all-wide body operation.

 Mactan Cebu International Airport, the country’s second-busiest air facility. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

PAL’s trans-Pacific services will likewise see significant expansion, with Honolulu going from four times weekly to daily from December 11, along with the deployment of the new A330-300 in place of the A340-300 on the route, the statement said.

San Francisco will add three weekly flights from December 12, raising total frequency to 10 flights weekly. Los Angeles maintains its 11 weekly flights while Guam, which increased to a daily frequency earlier, has switched to a new schedule that better suits passengers.

On November 22, departures from Manila to Guam shifted to a more convenient late-night slot (10:10 p.m.) from the previous early-morning hour. This gives travelers the benefit of a full day’s agenda in Manila before a restful flight and then arriving in Guam just as the next day begins.

In the Middle East, PAL will augment its services to all four points in the region – a boon to the 2 million-strong Filipino communities there for whom a Yuletide homecoming is a cherished annual rite.

Abu Dhabi adds two weekly flights to become a daily service from December 1. Earlier, Dubai took on an extra frequency to likewise go daily. Dammam will expand from three to five times weekly from December 9. Riyadh will rise from four to five flights weekly from December 15. All flights use the new A330-300 aircraft.

In the domestic sector, several popular tourist routes will see marked increases in frequency to cater to brisk holiday demand. Bacolod swells from three to five flights daily, Basco gets a second daily flight and Tagbilaran goes three times daily, all from December 1.

Busuanga, gateway to the pristine islands of northern Palawan, gets a third daily flight from December 29, plus extra sections on December 26, 27 and 28. Caticlan, the airport closest to the resort island of Boracay, receives the largest increase, spiking from 61 to 70 flights weekly (or 10 times daily) from December 4.

Other local destinations getting a boost in frequencies are Laoag, which goes double daily from December 11; Puerto Princesa, three flights daily from December 15; Butuan, two flights daily from December 18; and Naga, three flights daily from December 29.

Meanwhile, PAL reminds the riding public to check in as early as three hours before their scheduled flight time in view of the anticipated congestion at the airport during this busy travel season.