Flag carrier Philippine Airlines is launching nonstop flights to New Zealand by December this year.
PAL said in a statement that beginning Dec. 6, it will launch thrice weekly flights between Manila and Auckland.
The new flights will use PAL’s fleet of long-range Airbus A340s. Previously, PAL would fly to Auckland via a stopover in Cairns, Australia, since it was using a shorter range Airbus A320.
With the larger A340, PAL said it would do away with the Cairns stopover by Dec. 5. PAL said it would continue to operate Manila-Auckland via Cairns until that period.
“The new product makes PAL the only Philippine carrier which offers the quickest and most convenient flight option between Manila and Auckland,” PAL said in a statement.
“With the forthcoming nonstop service, travel time to Auckland will be reduced to 10 hours from the current 12.15 hour Manila–Auckland via Cairns route,” it added.
Using the A340 would also increase capacity, since the aircraft has 60 percent more seats, PAL said.
PAL launched its flights to New Zealand in December 2015.
Increasing demand for air travel and new routes helped PAL increase passenger revenue in the first half of 2017.
PAL said passenger revenues were up 16.5 percent to P56.5 billion. The first half covers the peak summer travel season.