PAL flies to Jinjiang, China on March 29

MANILA, Philippines - National flag carrier Philippine Airlines Inc. (PAL) is flying to Jinjiang this month bringing the number of destinations of the airline in China to seven.

PAL president and chief operating officer Jaime Bautista said the airline would initially mount three weekly flights to the city in Fujian province starting March 29.

“A large number of Chinese-Filipinos trace their roots to the city of Jinjiang. In response to the clamor for links to and from the Chinese city, the flag carrier is launching the new route,” Bautista said.

The city, known for its foreign-owned factories in the clothing and footwear industry, has seen the rise of migrant workers in recent years.

“We hope to bring PAL’s unique Filipino style of warm, friendly, caring and hospitable service to our passengers on the new route,” he added.

PAL currently flies to Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Macau, Shanghai, and Xiamen in China.

Aside from Jinjiang, the airline is also looking at flying to Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea within the year.

To mark its 74th founding anniversary, PAL is set to fly four times a week to New York City starting March 15. The new service between the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and the John F. Kennedy International (JFK) Airport would use a Boeing 777-300ER.

New York marks the fifth US city in PAL’s network, following Los Angeles, San Francisco, Honolulu, and Guam.

Earlier, Bautista said the Tan Group would pursue the entry of a foreign strategic partner within the next three years.

He pointed out that the strategic partner that could take as much as 40-percent stake in the airline under Philippine laws would help finance the acquisition of additional aircraft for long-haul destinations.

The Tan Group has decided to defer the complete delivery of close to 40 brand new aircraft from Airbus after successfully taking back full ownership of the airline from diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC).

The orders, Bautista explained, has deferred the delivery of 38 Airbus A321 aircraft to 2024 instead of 2020 without any additional cost from the national flag carrier.

For this year alone, he pointed out that PAL is scheduled to take the delivery of 10 A321 but has decided to accept only five while the remaining five would be delivered in 2016.