Philippine Airlines said Wednesday it will increase its flight frequency between Manila and New York due to rising demand.
“Right now, we are only operating four times a week, but under our existing entitlements we can operate up to five times a week,” PAL president and chief operating officer Jaime Bautista said.
PAL currently flies between Manila and New York every Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, arriving the following day at Terminal 1 of John F. Kennedy International Airport.
PAL uses Boeing 777-300 ERs for its New York flights as well as for Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver, Toronto and London.
Covering a distance of 14,501 kilometers or approximately 18.5 total flying hours, the New York flight will be PAL’s longest route.
About half a million ethnic Filipinos reside on the East Coast, with over 253,000 in the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area, 90,000 in Virginia, and 75,000 in Washington, D.C. and its environs. Filipinos on the East Coast account for 15 percent of the about 3.4-million-strong Filipino population in the US, comprising a natural base market for PAL.
The choice of JFK International, the busiest in the US, as PAL’s gateway to New York is a major advantage for the new service. Located in the borough of Queens, the airport is a mere 15 miles from midtown Manhattan, the nerve center of New York.
PAL’s New York flight started after the US Federal Aviation Administration lifted the Philippines’ aviation status to Category 1 in April last year.
Bautista had said the company would be “more profitable” this year compared with last year.
PAL Holdings Inc. earlier reported a comprehensive income of P6.55 billion in the first nine months of the year from last year’s P169.1 million.
PAL Holdings attributed the sharp increase in comprehensive income during the period to strong revenues, which rose 10.8 percent to P81.98 billion from P73.98 billion a year ago.
PAL’s passenger revenue amounted to P68.37 billion in the first nine months of the year, up 12.5 percent from last year’s P60.78 billion.
Tycoon Lucio Tan last year bought back a 49-percent stake in PAL that San Miguel Corp. purchased from him in 2012.