PAL flies to Perth

PERTH – Philippine Airlines (PAL), the country’s flag carrier, touched down at Perth Airport on Monday,marking its first new international destination after it successfully exited its Chapter 11 process in December 2021.

PAL president and COO Capt. Stanley Ng said this new milestone expands the carrier’s presence in Australia.

“Flying here for the first time was quite a milestone. I was privileged to serve as the pilot in command of the first Manila-Perth crew, and I assure you we had a happy landing at Perth Airport this morning with a full load of passengers on board,” he told local and visiting journalists in a press conference here late Monday.

Ng said the route has great potential as it would give Australians and Filipinos a travel option with good value.

Prior to this, travelers need to take multiple flights to reach Perth from Manila and vice versa.

Philippine Ambassador to Australia Hellen de la Vega, said Filipinos here have long been clamoring for a direct flight between Perth and Manila.

“I made a visit to the different Filipino communities and that’s what they were hoping for, “ de la Vega said.

There are some 46,000 Filipinos in Western Australia alone out of the 400,000 in the whole country. Some are working in Australia’s huge mining industry while others are in healthcare. There is also a huge Filipino student population.

The historic flight left the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) a little past midnight on Sunday and arrived around 6:35 a.m. on Monday.

Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista, who led the send-off ceremony in NAIA, stressed the importance of the aviation sector and its expansion to accommodate the rapid demand for air travel.

“Aviation is one indispensable mode of modern transport. This Perth inaugural flight will start to reconnect the lost air bridges and re-ignite the once robust tourism and trade relations with other countries,” Bautista said.

The new PAL direct flights, a thrice weekly scheduled service operating into the Western Australian capital every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday, will allow travelers to fly between Perth and Manila in just seven hours.

This saves travelers four to six hours in travel time compared to flying via other airline routes that require a stopover and flight connections in a third country.

“This milestone journey celebrates the continuing recovery of our airline from the challenges of the pandemic. The flight symbolizes PAL’s determination to grow its network and conquer new markets,” Ng said.

Also on board the inaugural flight was Australian Ambassador to the Philippines, Hae Kyong Yu PSM.

The nonstop flights to Manila allow for connections to Cebu, Davao and other Philippine business and resort destinations. Travelers from Perth may also fly onward via nonstop PAL flights to the US West Coast, Japan, Hong Kong and Thailand.