PAL to raise flights by 52 percent in March
The Philippine Airlines
MANILA, Philippines—Philippine Airlines (PAL) is adding over 1,500 trips this month, or an increase of over 52 percent, as it bets on a “resurgence for Philippine tourism” amid lower pandemic restrictions.
The increase will be implemented across the flag carrier’s domestic and international network after more countries lowered travel bans.
“We are seizing the opportunity to intensify our efforts to promote international tourist travel to the Philippines, as well as to respond to rising demand for flights to serve overseas Filipinos and a recovering economy,” Stanley K. Ng, acting president and chief operating officer at PAL, said in a statement on Tuesday (March 8).
“We are reasonably optimistic that air travel will rebound in the months ahead,” he added.
PAL said domestic trips will increase by 56 percent in March.
This will include Manila-Cebu (10 flights per day), Manila-Davao (six per day), Manila-Bacolod (three per day), Manila-Legazpi (three per day), Manila-Iloilo (three per day), Manila-Cagayan De Oro (four per day), Manila-Boracay (six per day) and Manila-Tacloban (three per day).
PAL will also deploy more flights to North America, the Middle Asia and Asia.
Trips to the US and Canada will increase by 24 percent. Los Angeles will have 11 flights weekly while San Francisco with have daily trips. New York, Vancouver, Honolulu, Toronto and Guam will see additional weekly services by April.
Southeast Asia flights will increase by 98 percent, PAL said.
The Manila-Singapore route will rise to 14 weekly flights in March and up to 28 weekly flights “in succeeding months.” It will also add trips to Bangkok, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Phnom Penh, and both Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and Hanoi in Vietnam.
Flights to Japan, which include Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka and Tokyo will increase 11 percent while trips to the Saudi Arabian cities of Riyadh and Dammam will go up by 16 percent.
It added that nonstop services to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane would more than double “to serve pent up demand now that Australia has reopened its borders to international travel.”
PAL noted that trips to mainland China are on hold pending a relaxation of current travel restrictions. PAL will increase flights to Hong Kong and Taiwan by nearly 60 percent while services to Macau are slated to resume by April this year.
