PAL starts flights to New Zealand on Dec. 2

FLAG carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) will start flying to New Zealand on Dec. 2 this year to service Filipinos as well as tourists from the island.

PAL said in a statement that there would be four flights a week between Manila and Auckland via Cairns in Australia.

“The route will stimulate passenger traffic along three travel streams— Manila-Cairns, Manila-Auckland as well as Cairns-Auckland,” PAL president Jaime Bautista said in the statement.

“The new service allows Philippine Airlines to cater to the travel needs of business and leisure travelers and showcase its distinct brand of service marked by Filipino warmth, charm and hospitality,” he said. “Filipinos residing in New Zealand will find the new service as their convenient link to their home country.”

PAL said there were about 44,000 Filipinos residing in New Zealand. Travel between both countries has been on the rise.

Passenger growth from the Philippines to New Zealand increased by 9.4 percent over the last five years, while the New Zealand to the Philippines travel grew by 11.6 percent over the same period, PAL said.

The Manila-Cairns-Auckland service will use the 156-seater Airbus 320, flying every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday.

Cairns and Auckland will become PAL’s 37th and 38th international points respectively, while Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea, set to be launched on Dec. 18, will be its 39th International destination.

In line with the launch, PAL is offering an introductory price of $880 for a round trip, economy class ticket and $2,700 for a business class ticket on the Manila-Auckland route.

Round trip tickets for the Auckland-Manila route, on the other hand, were pegged at $705 for economy class and $2,044 for business class.

The city of Auckland is the main transport hub and the largest in New Zealand with a population of 1.5 million, accounting for 32 percent of New Zealand’s total population.