BIZ BUZZ: PAL adds flights to Seattle

MANILA, Philippines – Starting November this year, flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) will increase services between Manila and Seattle in the United States from three to five a week.

This comes just a year after the flight to the northwestern city famous for being the birthplace of Starbucks, among others, was launched.

PAL said the increase in weekly flights reflected the growing appeal of PAL’s nonstop route to Seattle, the only direct airline link between the Philippines and the US Pacific Northwest.

READ: BIZ BUZZ: Trouble in two-wheeler paradise?

The five times weekly service will operate every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday.

“Our decision to increase frequencies to Seattle highlights the importance of the US market to the Philippine Airlines global network, and in particular the great value of Seattle as a gateway, not just to the Washington and Oregon areas, but to cities across the United States that we can now serve through our ongoing partnership with Alaska Airlines,” said PAL President Richard Nuttall.

“We are focusing strongly on developing this growing market to help Americans plan their vacation trips to the Philippines and other Asian countries, to open up more opportunities for businesses to build up commercial activities and for Filipino Americans to reunite more often with their families back in the home country.”

The planned expansion aims to meet growing travel demand to and from the US West Coast and beyond, as part of a long-term investment by PAL to develop business and tourist travel flows between the United States and the Philippines.

With Seattle, PAL now serves eight eight destinations in the US and Canada, offering nonstop flights to New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver, Toronto, Honolulu and Guam. Tina Arceo-Dumlao

DICT bags awards

The Philippines was once again acknowledged at the GovMedia Awards 2025 in Singapore, clinching two awards.

The DICT said the eGovPH Super App won the E-Governance Project of the Year and e-Government Data Exchange Platform (eGovDX) as Digital Transformation of the Year.

The eGovPH mobile application serves as a one-stop shop platform for Filipinos as it covers digital ID, travel, health, public safety and more. With more than 13 million users, the app has already logged over 150 million transactions.

The eGovDX platform, meanwhile, links over 1,000 government services, resulting in 500 million transactions.

“People need to feel that the government is working for them. That means faster service, zero lines and more transparency,” DICT undersecretary for E-Government David Almirol Jr. said.

But the DICT official said the grind goes on, as they target all government agencies to integrate into the unified systems. —Lisbet K. Esmael