Cebu to Bangkok among new flight routes announced for Christmas

new flight routes

A direct service between Cebu and Bangkok is among the new flight routes being launched by Philippines Airlines (PAL) in time for the busy Christmas season.

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The national carrier has announced that the thrice weekly service will start on December 2

PAL cited “public demand for direct nonstop flights from Asian destinations to Central Visayas” as the reason for launching the flights.

Domestic connecting flights from Cebu include Bacolod, Busuanga, Butuan, Cagayan, Caticlan, Davao, Camiguin, General Santos, Iloilo, Kalibo, Legaspi, Ozamiz, Puerto Princesa, Siargao and Tacloban.

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Internationally, Cebu has services linking it to Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Seoul, Singapore, Chengdu and Beijing.

Launching flights using secondary airports is part of ongoing efforts to decongest Manila’s NAIA. The airport already caters for about 42 million passengers annually, which is some 40 per cent more than it was designed to for.

Also as part of these efforts, PAL is increasing its services at Clark Airport.

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Among the new routes is a Clark to Virac, Catanduanes, service, starting on December 15.

PAL president Jaime Bautista said: “This latest pioneer route enables us to serve the flight needs of our ‘kababayans’ in the province of Catanduanes.

“It will be our pleasure to serve the Clark-Virac route and provide them our trademark heartfelt service on this short hop. The new flights further expand our domestic route network and our hub at Clark International Airport giving travellers the flexibility to choose from our wide array of domestic services.

The new route was championed by Cesar Sarmiento, Catanduanes representative and chair of the house committee on transportation.

He said: “As a company imbued with public interest, it is important to respond to the needs of the flying public, particularly the untapped markets. I am pleased with PAL’s positive response to my request for this much-needed service.”

PAL will serve the route three times a week using its 76-seater Bombardier Q400.

Other domestic routes from Clark include Basco, Busuanga, Caticlan, Cebu, Puerto Princesa, Bacolod, Cagayan, Davao and Tagbilaran.

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