Lucio Tan’s Philippine Airlines (PAL) is targeting eight new destinations in the United States, its largest expansion move in North America thus far, through an alliance with American Airlines, one of the “big three” carriers in the United States.In the midst of a downturn in the aviation sector due to the new coronavirus pandemic, PAL and American Airlines filed a joint codeshare application before the US Department of Transportation.
A codeshare allows an airline to sell tickets to a flight operated by the partner airline. This allows airlines to expand their reach to destinations they do not directly serve.Under the codeshare deal, PAL will partner with American Airlines for flights from Los Angeles to Atlanta, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, New Orleans, Orlando and Washington.American Airlines will also gain a foothold in the Philippine market through PAL’s flights between Manila-Honolulu, Manila-Guam, Manila-Tokyo and Cebu-Tokyo.
“The joint applicants urge the department to act as expeditiously as possible so that they may begin offering beneficial new online services between the United States and the Philippines,” the two carriers said in a letter to the
US transport regulator on March 17. INQ