Philippine Airlines (PAL) on Friday announced the resumption of direct flights between Mactan-Cebu and Osaka Kansai starting 22 December 2024.
This represents a significant expansion of PAL’s network in Japan, the country’s fourth-largest source of tourist visitors and home to over 300,000 overseas Filipinos. This also develops in the wake of an earlier resumption of direct flights to Paris in December.
The thrice weekly PAL flights provide direct access to Cebu and central Philippines for tourists and business travelers from the western regions of Japan. By 26 February next year, the airline will add frequency to the weekly flights to accommodate the growing number of travelers.
“We are delighted to make our comeback in the Cebu-Osaka market, just in time for the Christmas holiday season. Our direct flights from Mactan to Kansai will help us promote the tourism industry and local businesses in Cebu and the Visayas region, and deepen both bilateral relations and cultural ties with our Japanese counterparts,” Capt. Stanley K. Ng, PAL president and chief operating officer, said.
“Philippine Airlines looks forward to giving travelers from Western Japan the opportunity to experience the outstanding resorts and heritage experiences that Cebu is famous for, or to reunite with loved ones in the Philippines,” he added.
Travelers from Osaka may connect seamlessly in Cebu with PAL flights to various domestic points, including Bacolod, Borongan, Busuanga (Coron), Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Caticlan (Boracay), Clark, Cotabato, Davao, General Santos, Iloilo, Legazpi, Ozamiz, Puerto Princesa, Siargao, Tacloban and Zamboanga.
PAL is deploying a 199-seater Airbus A321 CEO for the Cebu-Osaka service.
The resumption of Cebu-Osaka services complements PAL’s twice daily flights between Manila and Osaka Kansai and daily flights between Cebu and Tokyo Narita.
Altogether, PAL offers the largest network of flights on multiple routes linking the Philippines and Japan, with nonstop services to Osaka Kansai, Nagoya, Fukuoka, Tokyo Haneda and Tokyo Narita. PAL also offers other international links from Cebu, with daily flights to Seoul (Incheon) and thrice weekly flights to Bangkok.
