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Philippine Airlines is expanding international and domestic flights by October in anticipation of a revival in travel
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To jumpstart domestic tourism, PAL launched several programs, such as the Hiraya Flight Pass and Forever Flyer promotion
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The airline received US court approval on September 9 for the first phase of its Chapter 11 restructuring plan
Philippine Airlines (PAL) is expanding international and domestic flights by October in anticipation of a revival in travel.
By late October 2021, PAL eyes increased 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, the flag carrier said in a statement.
The airline’s winter season schedule also includes regular flights to New York John F. Kennedy International Airport, 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’s 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,” PAL senior vice president and chief strategy and planning officer Dexter C. Lee said.
PAL has now ramped up to daily basis flights each to Los Angeles, Tokyo, Osaka and Singapore. Multiple weekly flights to San Francisco, Vancouver and other points in Japan and Middle East are continuing. London is being served with special flights in September and October.
With the shift to a looser quarantine status for the National Capital Region, PAL presently operates multiple daily flights between Manila and Cebu, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Boracay (Caticlan), Tacloban, Legazpi, Bohol and Cotabato.
PAL received US court approval on September 9 for the first phase of its Chapter 11 restructuring plan, which will allow fresh capital to flow in even as the airline sustains its full range of flights and services.
READ: PAL gets US court nod to access $20M financing
To help jumpstart domestic tourism, PAL launched the new Hiraya Flight Pass, a personalized set of pre-purchased flights with open travel dates for use on all PAL domestic routes.
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.
The airline continues to mount repatriation flights to bring home overseas Filipino workers 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.
The flag carrier is also 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.
