The fun flight attendants featured in the image above are flying even further into Oceania, as Philippine Airlines (PAL) announces a two city expansion to its network.
Commencing 1 December this year, the airline said it will launch triangular flights from Manila to Cairns and Auckland.
Cairns will be the airline’s fifth Australian destination, with flights already operating to Brisbane, Darwin, Melbourne and Sydney.
According to PAL President and Chief Operating Officer, Jaime J Bautista, the new route is designed to ‘stimulate passenger traffic’ along the three travel streams.
“The new service allows PAL to cater to the travel needs of business and leisure travelers and showcase its distinct brand of service marked by Filipino warmth, charm and hospitality. With close to 40,000 Filipinos residing in New Zealand, the new service is their convenient link to their home country-the Philippines.”
Jaime J Bautista, PAL President and Chief Operating Officer
It also comes as tourism between the Philippines and Australia grows.
Currently, Australia is the fifth largest inbound market to the Philippines, following Korea, US, Japan and China.
Around 62,899 Aussies travelled to the destination between January and March this year. This was a share of 4.52 percent of total traffic base.
Australia is also the third top spending market, contributing Php 1.08 billion in March alone.
Flights on the Manila-Cairns-Auckland route will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.
The six-hour flight to Cairns departs Manila at 11:45 PM (MNL time) arriving in Australia at 08:00AM (local time) the following day.
The one-hour stopover allows PAL to pick up passengers from Cairns for the continuing journey to Auckland.
Arrival in New Zealand is at 4:00PM (local time).
Flights from Auckland depart on the same days at 6:30 PM (local time), arriving Cairns at 10:30 PM (local time).
After a brief stopover, flights depart from Cairns, arriving Manila at 3:30AM (MNL time), the following day.
“Upon arrival in Manila, passengers may enjoy the capital city for a few days then connect to any of the 67 other destinations (30 domestic and 37 international) in the PAL network. In the long term, the service will drive traffic between Southeast Asia and New Zealand.”
Jaime J Bautista, PAL President and Chief Operating Officer
Ulitising the airline’s 156-seater Airbus A320, the aircraft is split into two classes with 12 Business Class seats and 144 economy seats.