Axe Cebu-Los Angeles
9 May 2017
Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) will drop Abu Dhabi from its route network beginning July 6 and will enter code-share arrangement with Etihad Airlines instead. The decision came after the airline continue to bleed in the red as it continue to operate in Abu Dhabi.
PAL entered codeshare deals with Etihad on the Manila-Abu Dhabi route in 2015 but this partnership has not provided much needed traffic to sustain its current Manila-Abu Dhabi-Manila route due to disparity of flight services.
PAL President Jaime J. Bautista said they were contemplating to drop Abu Dhabi in March 2017 but opted to extend the service after securing new deals with Etihad.
The Etihad-PAL codeshare is now limited to Manila-Abu Dhabi flights terminating domestic connections beyond Manila. in the deal Etihad will instead fly in behalf of PAL giving the Abu Dhabi based airline four more frequency from the existing new 3x a week entitlements.
The airline is also ending temporarily Cebu – Los Angeles service to make its product to North America more consistent, currently served 3 times a week, with Airbus A340-300 aircraft which will be returned to lessor. Last flight for this route which started March 2016 is scheduled on May 27, 2017. Passengers with existing reservations are re-routed via Manila.
Flight termination ends Cebu’s only nonstop Trans-Pacific service for now with future flight expected to resume in 2018 with the arrival of A350 aircraft both for Los Angeles and San Francisco.
PAL entered codeshare deals with Etihad on the Manila-Abu Dhabi route in 2015 but this partnership has not provided much needed traffic to sustain its current Manila-Abu Dhabi-Manila route due to disparity of flight services.
PAL President Jaime J. Bautista said they were contemplating to drop Abu Dhabi in March 2017 but opted to extend the service after securing new deals with Etihad.
The Etihad-PAL codeshare is now limited to Manila-Abu Dhabi flights terminating domestic connections beyond Manila. in the deal Etihad will instead fly in behalf of PAL giving the Abu Dhabi based airline four more frequency from the existing new 3x a week entitlements.
The airline is also ending temporarily Cebu – Los Angeles service to make its product to North America more consistent, currently served 3 times a week, with Airbus A340-300 aircraft which will be returned to lessor. Last flight for this route which started March 2016 is scheduled on May 27, 2017. Passengers with existing reservations are re-routed via Manila.
Flight termination ends Cebu’s only nonstop Trans-Pacific service for now with future flight expected to resume in 2018 with the arrival of A350 aircraft both for Los Angeles and San Francisco.
No one wants to fly a 9 hour flight seating on a tight a330 without avod.
ReplyDeleteYeah I would avoid them on long flights to ! also considering PAL is already ready going to Finally refurbished this A330s and will deployed them soon maybe next mounth I can't whait to see thier interiors !
DeleteHow about Dubai and other Middle East cities?
ReplyDeleteDelighted to read this. AUH has been a headache and a pressure to PAL with its codeshare with EY. Products are inconsistent, from business to economy class. The former is a 3-star airline and the latter is now 5-star. AUH also has tighter regulations compared to DXB, which is odd. This is a sound decision as the codeshare with EY solely operating will improve PAL's revenue on the route. All other ME routes: DXB, JED, KWI, RUH, DMM and DOH are now nonstop.
ReplyDeleteThis ia just my honest opinion, it is disheartening that pr deploy their uncomfortable 330 to mideast where in fact, ofw based in mideast have the spending capacity thanks to their tax free salary, i my self always fly qr to manila and i avoid pr because theres a big difference eith tje service. Pr also have premium economy seat which is a big joke cause its is the same with their y seat....
ReplyDeletei am one of those unlucky passengers who have tasted how boring Pal connecting flight without an individual tv seatback in the economy class from AUH-MNL after an awesome flight with ethihad from montreal-dublin=abu dhabi..
ReplyDeleteAnyone are complaining about the current PAL A330 cabin used in AUH. But did you know Cebu Pacific A330 cabin that are also used in serving other Mideast cities have the same cabin interior on some of PAL's A330. In fact SMC, the former owner of PAL, copy some if the business model of CEB. SMC are the one's to blame why PAL has less amenities in their cabin. But CEB, without any amenities in their cabin, are reporting a high load factor in the Mideast market. The point is some people doesn't care if they are flying an airline without any amenities, they also have no time to criticize the airline in this blog, as long as they can reach home safely and reunite in their love ones that's fine with them.
ReplyDeleteBtw, for those who are criticizing the airline. Try to judge them in the next two years when they finished modify all their A330 fleet with updated seats and AVOD.
well CEB is a different story..its a low cost airline and naturally people on budget should fly with CEB..
DeleteEtihad Airways not Etihad Airlines!
ReplyDeleteIm excited for the tri class reconfigured a330s. Unfortunately its not for ME routes.
ReplyDeletePAL will also re-configured the remaining 7 starting next year.
ReplyDelete