Philippine Airlines Expands New York Flight Capacity, Plans Non-Stop Service

National flag carrier Philippine Airlines is set to increase capacity on its flights between Manila and New York via Vancouver, when it upgrades the service from the 254-seat A340 aircraft to the 370-seat Boeing 777 on October 26. 

philippine airlines boeing 777
Copyright Photo: Angelo Agcamaran/PPSG
The announcement is welcome news to Filipinos residing on the East Coast of the United States who can now enjoy a modern, state-of-the-art aircraft on what is Philippine Airlines' longest route. The Boeing 777 aircraft is equipped with a full in-flight entertainment package that includes a personal television screen at every seat, compared to the ageing A340 aircraft that merely offers a single program on an overhead screen. 

According to Philippine Airlines President Jaime Bautista, upgrading the route to the Boeing 777 will enable the carrier to operate its longest flight more cost effectively. "Using the Boeing 777 to the US Mainland enables us to operate our long haul flights efficiently and economically," stated Bautista.

The Boeing 777-300ER aircraft currently operates Philippine Airlines flights to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver, and Toronto. The national carrier currently operates six of the aircraft with an additional two scheduled to arrive in October and December of 2016.

Meanwhile, Bautista added that Philippine Airlines is planning to fly to New York non-stop from Manila beginning next year. The carrier is presently seeking regulatory approvals to utilise a polar route between the two cities from October 2016. 

"We can fly non-stop using the Boeing 777 aircraft to New York," said Bautista. Many had initially believed that Philippine Airlines would wait to acquire longer range, fuel-efficient aircraft such as the Boeing 787 or Airbus A350 before launching non-stop flights to New York. But the carrier has already filed applications with Philippine, Russian, Canadian, and US regulators for the required permits to operate the route. "We need approvals to fly over the North Pole," added Bautista.

When Philippine Airlines acquires the necessary permits, Bautista says that it will also pave the way for direct flights from Manila to Toronto, Canada once demand increases to a sufficient level. Philippine Airlines currently serves Toronto via a stop in Vancouver.

Although Philippine Airlines is not currently planning to launch any new routes in the United States beyond the direct service to New York, it will be increasing flights on its existing routes to Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Honolulu.

Meanwhile, the carrier is also planning to launch a brand new flight from Cebu to Los Angeles on March 16, 2016. When the new service is launched, Philippine Airlines will operate 38 weekly flights between the Philippines and United States.

22 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Even with the polar route, can PAL's 77Ws make the MNL-JFK route without penalty considering their economy class seating is 3-4-3?

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  3. Sucks. I wanted to claim my mabuhay miles on a YVR-JFK flight next year. Guess that won't be the case anymore

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  4. Pilots flying bia Polar Routes are very aware and trained how a polar tip can affect navigational equipment of an aircraft like compass..it needs to calibrate very often ..hope pal pilots are trained and aware of it..

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  5. I have a good Feeling that nextyear Pal will resume non stop service from Yyz-Mnl-Yyz as it always shown good numbers of passengers lining up at the check in area of Pal inside Toronto Pearson Int'l Airport .

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    1. A friend of mine working at Winnipeg James Armstrong International Airport told me recently that soon Philippine Airlines will include YWG as stop over flight when Pal will again fly non stop from manila-toronto.Mr.Greg Sellinger Prmier of Manitoba have been requesting Philippine Airlines to have a flight in Wimnpeg with Manitoba Govt.giving now Aviation fuel rebates to all international flight..he said Pal is very much interested to have stop over flight in YWG which is also home to thousand of Filipino- Canadians/Immigrants and Foreign Workers.

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    2. n hopefully with traffic rights!

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    3. The current a330 MNL- HNL can be tag to either YWG or YYC.

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    4. PAL will be the First Asian Airline in YWG ..this News have beem circulating here in Winnipeg since lastyear after Pal Representaives meet with Mr.G.Sellinger talking about new traffic ights granted to pal by Canada last year..asking pal to consider YWG...this is definitely a good news to all Manitobans. we are all excited!!

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  6. Korean Air has been utilizing the polar route, i.e., Seoul/Anchorage/New York since the early 80s and PAL should be able to follow that route as well - Manila/Anchorage/New York. Question though: Are PAL's 777s ready to follow the 3-3-3 Y seating? If not, there is a problem! People or passengers are wiser now!

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    1. Only few passengers are wiser and the majority are dumb or just dont care anyway.

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  7. Every year i booked with Pal flying with B777 on Economy Class and i dnt see anything wrong with it...infact it is much have more legroon compare with other Airlines..same with the Old A340..which i found it to be more relaxing in 2-4- 2 when you are talking about legroom comfort..inflight entertainment if course is a big issue with Oal A340..

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  8. I'd still prefer other asian airlines with more legroom and IFE. A great example would be Asiana Airlines' 2-3-2 seating on the A380 upper deck . PAL needs to improve its facilities/ amenities on long haul flights! Passengers are not getting their money's worth. Imagine a long haul flight with no IFE! Are we in the 90's???

    P.s. PAL has one of the most expensive flights bound for the USA!

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    1. Improve their facilities/amenities on long haul flights? That's what PAL is trying to do by using the 777 on the MNL-YVR-JFK route, because that plane has IFE and more legroom compared to their other planes.

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    2. ALL flights of PAL should have an upgrade of in flight facilities, I myself am hesitant to fly pal for any destination because of the limited facilities offered on board, even their in flight catering has not improved albeit worsened! PAL must step up to the competiton.
      Ang bagal ng pacing ng pag improve ng pal.
      Panalo lang sila sa cabin crew; magagaling mag english, professional at maalaga.

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    3. Eh di mag charter flight ka ng singapore airlines ewan ko lang afford mo

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  9. Pal Cabin Crew? Do you know that Pal female cabin crew yung iba sa kanila Are not aware of proper food handling? Indi sila naka ponytail or indi nila tinatalian yung mga buhok nila..which in our case yung buhok ng female flight attendant nasama dun sa food tray ng tatay ko..this is a big No in proper food handling..hope pal can be more strict in proper hair grooming ng kanilang mga flight attendants.

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  10. Include me with this hair in the food tray issue, PR118 manila-toronto my food tray have a piece of hair of the young female fa which her haie was not been tied back.u even took her photo while she she serving meals and post it at Pal FB page only to be deleted by pal admin fb page.

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  11. The main consideration here will be economics.

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  12. Well perhaps maybe some of this Pal Young Female Flight Attendants are more concern or shell i say conceited with how they look in front of their passengers that's why for them it;s more the beauty and cute face that matters to them instead of proper food handling that can lead to poor sanitation.

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  13. That is GREAT NEWS!! Philippine Airlines has jacket prices so high and for what? Make themselves richer. Super Happy to hear this news. Now hopefully prices will drop down to normal prices and not inflated.

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