Philippine Airlines is now gearing for expansion of its international and domestic flights this October in line with the revival of businesses and travels now that the Philippines topped up its vaccination drive that has improved the travel and economic conditions nationwide.
According to PAL, by late October this year, the nation’s flag carrier plans to add up flights to San Francisco, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Guam, Singapore, Dubai, Doha, Nagoya, and Fukuoka and at the same time will continue to wing its special flights to Auckland, Vietnam and other points in Australia. PAL added that more flights to Honolulu and Taipei will come online by the last week of November 2021.
Also, the airline has set its winter season schedule that includes regular flights to New York JFK, Seoul, Saudi Arabia, Vancouver, Toronto, and other Asian destinations.
Increase its domestic flights
Speaking of domestic routes, PAL sets to increase flight frequencies in Iloilo, Legazpi, Butuan, Puerto Princesa, Bacolod, Dumaguete and Roxas City. The airline added that PAL’s Cebu hub will see additional frequencies between Cebu and Zamboanga, Cagayan de Oro, Bacolod, Butuan and Davao.
PAL’s SVP/Chief Strategy and Planning Officer, Dexter C. Lee has told the press that as the restriction eases, they will progressively increase flights on high-density routes, as well as, the operating special commercial and repatriation flights to build passenger traffic.
“While demand may not come back to pre-pandemic levels until 2024, we will implement a fleet and network plan that will maintain Philippine Airlines as a market leader in the international and domestic sectors,” Lee said.
PAL continues to build its operations
In recent months, PAL has steadily built up operations amounting to 27% of the pre-pandemic flights on 70% of its route network. PAL has also brought off several important milestones that pointed to the recovery of the airline, as well as, the aviation industry that is indicated below.
- PAL increased its daily flights to Los Angeles, Tokyo, Osaka and Singapore. Multiple weekly flights are continuing to San Francisco, Vancouver and other points in Japan and Middle East. London is served with special flights in September and October.
- The shift to GCQ for the National Capital Region (NCR) opened opportunities for PAL to operate multiple domesctic flights between Manila and Cebu, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Boracay (Caticlan), Tacloban, Legazpi, Bohol and Cotabato.
- On September 9th, PAL received the U.S. court approval for the first phase of its ongoing Chapter 11 restructuring plan which will allow fresh capital to flow in even as the airline sustains its full range of flights and services.
- To help jumpstart domestic tourism, PAL launched the new Hiraya Flight Pass last week as the local industry’s most flexible flight pass offering the biggest savings.
- On August 2021, the flag carrier launched a new Forever Flyer promotion featuring digital raffle draws every week until December 17, 2021 awarding up to 80,000 yearly miles for life to winning PAL passengers.
- PAL introduced digital innovations such as FX Box multi-currency for a more convenient online ticket purchases and a self-service option for customers rebooking flights in partnership with Amadeus.
- PAL carried Filipino athletes to and from Tokyo 2020 Olympics games including the triumphant gold, silver, and bronze medal winners led by Hidilyn Diaz.
- PAL carried more than 21 million vaccine doses into the country and onward to various points in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao as part of the ongoing vaccine airlift mission.
- PAL continues to mount repatriation flights to bring home OFWs and other Filipinos from countries as diverse as India, Oman, Bahrain and Lebanon, as well as, Bayanihan services from Bangkok, Jakarta, Dubai and Kuala Lumpur. These flights use several Philippine gateways such as Davao, Subic and Cebu in addition to Manila.
- PAL was the first Asian airline accredited by the State of Hawaii to be a Trusted Testing and Travel Partner allowing PAL passengers to bypass mandatory quarantine stays in Hawaii if they secure negative swab test results from PAL’s accredited test centers and partner laboratories.
- PAL and its affiliate PAL Express maintained their seven-star safety rating, the highest award bestowed by the international ratings firm airlineratings.com.
As to Oscar Enrico A. Reyes, Jr., PAL SVP for Marketing and Sales, Philippine Airlines will focus keenly on its valued customers as they adapt to this challenging environment. “We continue to introduce product and service innovations that give our PAL customers the best-value buys with the most flexible ticketing options, as well as, the opportunity to earn miles as you purchase flights with us.”
