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PAL opening first-ever air link within the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region with a Cotabato–Tawi-Tawi–Cotabato City service starting on June 9
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The new service will operate twice weekly with morning departures every Monday and Thursday, offering business class and economy seating
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PAL says the new service will save travellers several hours as they will no longer have to take a connecting flight to either provinces from an airport outside BARMM
Philippine Airlines will start regular direct flights between Cotabato and Tawi-Tawi in June, its “first-ever air links within the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM),” PAL said in a statement.
“Commencing on June 9, 2022, the new Cotabato–Tawi-Tawi–Cotabato PAL service will operate twice weekly, with convenient morning departures every Monday and Thursday,” PAL said, adding that the service offers business class and economy seating.
The travel gateways will be Cotabato’s Awang Airport and Tawi-Tawi’s Sanga-Sanga Airport.
The Philippine flag carrier said the new service will save BARMM travellers several hours as they no longer need to travel via Manila or other domestic gateways outside the region or make an overnight stop to get a connecting flight.
“We look forward to contributing, in our own way, to the development of tourism and commerce in Bangsamoro through regular flights that help promote unity and economic activity in this dynamic region as well for the rest of Mindanao,” said PAL president and chief operating officer, Captain Stanley K. Ng.
The airline is ramping up the addition of more domestic and international flights to its network and aims to restore the number of its domestic flights to pre-COVID 19 levels.
PAL, operated by PAL Holdings Inc., generated P24 billion in revenues, as passenger revenue soared 201% and cargo revenue climbed 72% in the first quarter of 2022, compared with the same quarter last year.
The carrier reported net comprehensive income of P1.2 billion for the first quarter, “a significant development that marks PAL’s return to profitability.”
READ: PAL returns to profitability, books $22M Q1 net gain
“The last time that PAL registered positive first-quarter results was in 2016,” the airline said.
Last year, net income was P60.6 billion, a reversal from a loss of P73.1 billion in 2020, primarily due to an increase in “other income” attributable to gains from debt settlement and condonation.
Revenues in 2021 reached P58.7 billion, 6.2% higher than the P55.3 billion in 2020.
In April, PAL and the Singapore Tourism Board announced a partnership to encourage more Filipinos to visit Singapore.
