SIA Increases Manila Frequency
By Elijah Felice Rosales
MANILA, Philippines — Singapore’s flag carrier has raised its flight frequency in Manila for the first time in more than a decade on optimism that the market is well on its way to another banner year.
Singapore Airlines, one of the world’s best carriers, is betting on the Manila-Singapore corridor to grow rapidly from this year onward on the continuous expansion of the market for the route.
In turn, Singapore Airlines added a new daily flight for its Manila-Singapore service for the first time since 2009.
Singapore Airlines head of marketing and PR for the Philippines Marie Aiza Soller-Garcia said the flight raises the Manila-Singapore frequency to five times daily. This puts the airline ahead of its competitors in the market.
Flag carrier Philippine Airlines will offer Manila-Singapore flights four times a day for its winter schedule starting Oct. 26. Low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific operates twice daily on the route.
Soller-Garcia said the demographics of Filipinos visiting Singapore is becoming more diverse, as the city-state expands its list of attractions to entice both solo and group travelers.
Likewise, Soller-Garcia said Singapore is capturing more corporate accounts that are heading to the city-state for business and leisure purposes.
Singapore also hosts some of the biggest events in commerce and sports, such as Formula One’s Singapore Grand Prix, Aviation Festival Asia and the Mining Asia Conference and Exhibit.
“It is still a mix, so there are solos, families and we also cater to a lot of corporate travelers. This is why we have an additional service via Flight SQ 913, 914, so that added capacity in Manila is for us to cater to that demand,” Soller-Garcia said.
The Singapore Airlines Group currently manages 86 flights per week across the Philippines. For Singapore Airlines, that covers 35 weekly flights in Manila and another seven in Cebu.
Its budget subsidiary Scoot also connects Singapore with Manila 14 times a week, Cebu 10 times a week, Davao nine times a week, Clark seven times a week and Iloilo four times weekly.
Singapore Airlines is holding a travel sale between Oct. 10 and 25, where travelers can score discounts of up to 20 percent for fares compared to regular rates.
Starlux Returns To Manila
3 October 2025
After hiatus of more than one year, Taiwanese carrier Starlux Airlines will resume its daily flights to Manila from Dec. 16 with A321neo planes, as it strengthens its position in the Southeast Asian market.
Starlux CEO Chai Chien-hua said both business travelers and tourists would benefit from the resumption service after securing better time slots from Manila, while visitors to the Philippines would have three destinations to choose from and more transit possibilities.
Starlux will schedule its daily flights from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Manila in the morning, with the return flight leaving around noon. The airline originally operated flights to the Philippine capital at dawn from 2021 until March 2024, which is not business friendly timeslot.
The airline already operates services to Cebu and Clark in the Philippines.
DOTR Reopens Masbate Airport
2 October 2025
Typhoon-damaged Masbate airport reopens to the public today after extensive emergency repairs were made to make the airport accessible to the riding public one week after it was devastated by Opong.
Transportation Acting Secretary Giovanni Lopez said that repairs continue and personnel worked overtime to make the terminal safe for passengers.
Lopez said damage to terminal infrastructure amounted to ₱15 million.
DOTr explained that the Masbate airport infrastructure, built in 2016, is older and less resilient than newer facilities like Calbayog Airport, constructed between 2021 and 2022.
Meanwhile, seven airports in the provinces that were hit by a strong earthquake on Tuesday night were not damaged, the country's aviation regulator reported on Wednesday.
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said the airports were the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA), Bacolod, Tacloban, Calbayog, Ormoc, Maasin, and Hilongos.
PAL Flies CEB-GUM
26 September 2025
Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) is flying Cebu-Guam-Cebu beginning December 16, 2025 three times weekly using Airbus A321 aircraft.
The flight departs Mactan every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, with return flights every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
The flight schedule is as follows:
• Cebu to Guam (PR120) – Departs Cebu at 9:40 p.m. arrives on Guam at 3:25 a.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays
• Guam to Cebu (PR 121) – Departs Guam at 5:15 a.m., arrives in Cebu at 6:50 a.m. on Wednesdays, Fridays, Sundays
Vietnam Opens Cebu
25 September 2025
Vietnam flag carrier Vietnam Airlines (HVN) will fly Hanoi – Cebu - Hanoi beginning December 2, 2025 .
The airline will fly the route with Airbus A321 aircraft 3 times weekly, every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday night.
Return flights shall be every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning, departing Mactan-Cebu International Airport, under the following timetable:
VN643 HAN2250 – 0330+1CEB 321 247
VN642 CEB0500 – 0750HAN 321 135
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