Philippine Airlines (PAL) is gearing up to expand its international and domestic flights in the fourth quarter this year in anticipation of a tourist and business travel revival with the rampup in vaccination.
By late October, PAL said it plans to increase flights to San Francisco, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Guam, Singapore, Dubai, Doha, Nagoya and Fukuoka, while continuing special flights to Auckland, Vietnam and points in Australia.
More flights to Honolulu and Taipei will come online by the last week of November 2021, PAL added.
The airline’s winter season schedule also includes regular flights to New York JFK, Seoul, Saudi Arabia, Vancouver, Toronto and other Asian destinations.
On domestic routes, the flag carrier is set to add flight frequencies to Iloilo, Legazpi, Butuan, Puerto Princesa, Bacolod, Dumaguete and Roxas City.
PAL said its Cebu hub will see additional frequencies between Cebu and Zamboanga, Cagayan de Oro, Bacolod, Butuan and Davao.
“As travel restrictions ease, we are progressively increasing flights on high-density routes and 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,” said Dexter Lee, PAL senior vice president and chief strategy and planning officer.
PAL has steadily built up operations in recent months, now averaging 27 percent of the pre-pandemic flights on 70 percent of its route network.
The airline noted important milestones that point to progress in its recovery and that of the aviation industry.
PAL has ramped up to daily flights each 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.
With the shift to general community quarantine status for the National Capital Region, PAL said it now operates multiple daily flights between Manila and Cebu, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Boracay (Caticlan), Tacloban, Legazpi, Bohol and Cotabato.
PAL received US court approval last September 9 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 Hiraya Flight Pass last week, the local industry’s most flexible flight pass offering the biggest savings.
In August, 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 also introduced digital innovations such as FX Box multi-currency pricing to make online ticket purchases more convenient, and a self-service option for customers rebooking flights, in partnership with Amadeus.
