Philippine Airlines said it plans to operate direct, non-stop flights via the polar route (North Pole) between Manila and New York in the second half of 2018 to cut down the travel time between the two cities.
The flag carrier controlled by tycoon Lucio Tan said would use the A350 aircraft for the planned polar route between Manila and New York.
PAL recently flew its milestone first ultra-long polar flight from Toronto, Canada nonstop to Manila–marking the first-ever crossing of the Polar region by a Filipino airline.
The state-of-the-art 370-seater Boeing 777-300ER, with registry number RP-C7779, flew 7,200 nautical miles or 13,300 kilometers and traveled over Canada, Greenland, the Arctic Circle, Russia, Mongolia and parts of China. The flight was conducted at cruising altitudes ranging from 29,000 to 37,000 feet.
“This was the first non stop direct flight from Toronto to Manila over the polar region [north pole]. Kudos to the PAL team which made this flight a reality and most importantly, congratulations to our PAL flight deck crew under the leadership of Capt. Chuck. You make us proud,” PAL president and chief operating officer Jaime Bautista said.
PAL decided to shift to direct non-stop service via the polar route to cut down the total traveling time between Toronto and Manila.
The carrier used to operate flights between the two points with a stopover in Vancouver, a longer route that resulted in a combined flying and ground time of 21 hours. The new route cuts traveling time by 4.5 hours, a saving that translates into greater convenience for passengers.