Philippine Airlines is all set to launch thrice weekly flights on its first-ever direct route to Western Australia connecting Manila to Perth. The airline is planning to operate its A321 neo on the route and will add almost 52,000 seats per year. Initially, the airline had planned to start the flights between Manila Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL) and Perth Airport (PER) but that plan got stalled due to the pandemic.
Roger Cook, Minister for Tourism, Australia, said: “The Southeast Asia region has been leading the recovery of our international visitor economy since reconnecting with the world earlier this year, and this new service will provide an important connection between WA and the Philippines. It also opens a major market for international education and helps cement the growing relationships between businesses in WA and the Philippines. We expect to see the Philippines visitor market continue to grow.”
Currently, the airline has a fleet of eight Airbus A321neo with another 13 in order to replace the aging A320s that were retired or transferred to its low-cost subsidiary PAL Express.
Philippine Airlines currently operates direct flights to Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane while Cebu Pacific also operates from Manila to both Sydney and Melbourne.
Apart from Philippine Airlines, All Nippon Airways also plans to resume flights from Perth to Tokyo offering Western Australia’s only direct connection to Japan.
Philippine Airlines expects to return to profitability in towards the end of 2022 as the bookings for the upcoming holiday season are very strong. In the first nine months of 2022, the airline recorded a profit of $122 million.