PAL adds 1.5K plus flights in March (Sabong News)

Philippine Airlines (PAL) is mounting over 1,500 additional flights this month, expanding its regular scheduled overseas and local flights by 52 percent as international borders re-open and domestic travel restrictions ease. “We are reasonably optimistic that air travel will rebound in the months ahead, signaling a resurgence for Philippine tourism,” says Captain Stanley K. Ng, PAL Acting President and COO. “We are seizing the opportunity to intensify our efforts to promote international tourist travel here, as well as to respond to rising demand for flights to serve overseas Filipinos and a recovering economy,” he elaborated. This March, PAL will give travelers a wider choice of nonstop flights to North America as well as to the Middle East and all over Asia. PAL’s flights to the U.S. and Canada will increase by over 24 percent, with Los Angeles moving up to 11 flights weekly. San Francisco will receive daily flights. New York, Vancouver, Honolulu, Toronto and Guam will see additional weekly services by April. Southeast Asia is slated for a 98 percent hike in flight frequencies. PAL’s Manila-Singapore route will rise to 14 weekly flights in March, and ultimately to 28 weekly flights in succeeding months. PAL will likewise add more flights to Bangkok, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Phnom Penh, and both Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and Hanoi in Vietnam. Routes to Japan will increase by around 11 percent, with additional services to Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka and to Tokyo’s Haneda and Narita airports. PAL currently operates the largest network of flights to multiple points in Japan. The Middle East region will see a 16 percent increase in flights out of the Saudi Arabian cities of Riyadh and Dammam. PAL also flies regularly nonstop from Dubai and Doha, Qatar. PAL will boost nonstop services to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane by 146 percent, to serve pent up demand now that Australia has reopened its borders to international travel. The resumption of passenger flights to mainland China are on hold pending a relaxation of current travel restrictions, but PAL will increase flights to Hong Kong and Taiwan by nearly 60 percent. Services to Macau are slated to resume by April. PAL’s current international network is already the country’s largest, radiating from the airline’s Manila hub but including regular flights to Cebu from Tokyo Narita. Additional services to Cebu from other cities in Japan are in the works for the coming Summer 2022 schedule season. As for the local market, the flag carrier is set to increase domestic flights by more than 56 percent. This will include more frequency choices on the following key routes: Manila-Cebu – Up to 56 weekly flights (eight flights per day), increasing to 70 per week (10 per day) in April. Manila-Davao – Up to 42 weekly flights (six per day) Manila-Bacolod – Up to 21 weekly flights (three per day) Manila-Legazpi – Up to 21 weekly flights (three per day) Manila-Iloilo – Up to 21 weekly flights (three per day) Manila-Cagayan de Oro – Up to 28 weekly flights (four per day) Manila-Boracay (Caticlan) – Up to 42 weekly flights (six per day) Manila-Tacloban – Up to 21 weekly flights (three per day) Twice daily flights will operate between Manila and Coron (Busuanga), Tagbilaran (Panglao), Dumaguete and Butuan. The flag carrier will offer 11 weekly flights between Zamboanga and Manila, as well as twice weekly flights between Zamboanga and Tawi-Tawi. Daily flights will now be offered between Manila and Puerto Princesa, Kalibo, Roxas, Cotabato, Ozamiz City, Pagadian and General Santos City. PAL’s Cebu hub will link Mactan Cebu with 13 airports in Mindanao, Luzon and the rest of the Visayas, including Clark, Siargao, Butuan, Davao, Boracay and Coron. Davao will see regular flights to Iloilo and Tagbilaran, in addition to Manila. PAL will continue serving Antique, Basco, Laoag, Catarman, Calbayog and Siargao. “We congratulate our government partners and other industry stakeholders for paving the way for a revival of air travel to, from and throughout the Philippines,” says Captain Ng. They helped PAL navigate through the pandemic by supporting not just the flag carrier’s regular flights but also its all-cargo services and repatriation missions, he concluded.