The Philippine Airlines on Wednesday eyes resuming flights to Europe as part of efforts to rebuild the flag carrier’s international routes impacted by the global pandemic.
Capt. Stanley Ng, president and chief operating officer of PAL said the airline is exploring which is the best destination in Europe.
“We’re still in the process of gathering data and we’re also partnering with the Department of Tourism to look at which is the best routes to fly to Europe,” Ng said.
Ng said PAL’s return to Europe will depend on the delivery of aircraft as the flag carrier gave up a significant number of aircraft to its lessors due to the global pandemic.
PAL resumed nonstop flights to London in November 2013, using B777-300 after an absence of 15 years.
The airline stopped flying to London in March 2021 for commercial reasons. PAL, however, mounted special flights to and from London from August to October 2021.
Data from the DOT showed that arrivals from United Kingdom reached 101,034 in 2022, the country’s fifth largest source of foreign tourists.
In addition, Filipinos working and living in the United Kingdom number around 200,000.
PAL on March 27 made history with the inauguration of Manila to Perth, the airline’s first international route after the pandemic.
“We are optimistic about growth prospects for the Perth-Manila service. We hope to stimulate travel flow in both directions, so we may build up to more weekly flights eventually,” Ng said.
He added that the airline is in the process of rebuilding its network after the “very tough”
“We are now at 92 percent of our pre-pandemic flights.. We have high hopes for the success of our Perth-Manila service. Indeed, Perth-Manila is the first international route we are introducing after the pandemic,” he said.
The nonstop flights to Manila allow for easy connections to Cebu, Davao and other Philippine business and resort destinations. Travelers from Perth may also fly onward via nonstop PAL flights to the U.S. West Coast, Japan, Hong Kong and Thailand.
Perth is PAL’s fourth Australian gateway, joining Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, all of which are served with nonstop flights using Airbus A330 and A321neo aircraft.
PAL offers a total of 20 weekly direct flights to Perth, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
