Aeroflot To Fly Manila Next Year

18 August 2023

Russian flag carrier Aeroflot is expected to fly to Manila from Moscow beginning first quarter of next year, according to the Philippine regulator CAB.

The route will be flown by Boeing 777-300ER thrice a week from Moscow's  Sheremetyevo Alexander S. Pushkin International Airport (SVO) to Ninoy Aquino International Airport arriving midnight in Manila and leaving in the morning to the Russian capital. No specific time schedule has been provided by the airline at this time as they will still be loaded in the Global Distribution Platform (GDS) after official announcement.

CAB said Aeroflot's application to fly to Manila was made in 2017 under CAB Case No. EP-17-3695-ACFD-072017-0045-R and was approved a year later but its introduction into the country was delayed due to the covid19 pandemic which hit the country in 2020.

According to the spokesperson of the Russian Embassy in Manila, renewed application was made by Aeroflot in June this year from Russian aviation regulator Rosaviatsiya, the Federal Agency for Air Transport, for modification of approved route due to landing slot issues in Manila. The renewal was approved sometime in July with route modification. Separate application was made in the Philippines and recently approved by Philippine regulators this week, after obtaining landing slots from Airport Coordinator ACA at the congested Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

The new application calls for triangular service from Moscow to Manila and Cebu and vice versa arriving in Manila and Cebu in the evening and then leaving Cebu early morning for Manila early morning arrival and departure to Moscow. 

Under the Russia-Philippines Air Services Agreement approved in 2015, both Aeroflot and Philippine Airlines is entitled to fly daily flights between Moscow and Manila. The 2015 ASA amended the 2009 agreements made between the two countries. In addition, Philippine Airlines also asked beyond traffic rights to London and two other flights to Europe, either in Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, Frankfurt, and Madrid subject to fifth freedom limitations.

The new agreement also allows Philippine carriers to conduct operations between any point in the country and three destinations in Russia, including Moscow.

Philippine airlines has since utilized Kalibo-Vladivostok and Manila-Vladivostok for its seasonal route sometime in 2017, while Russian Airlines flew Vladivostok, Khabarovsk and Krasnoyarsk to Kalibo from 2016.

Russian Embassy earlier said it registered 27% passenger growth bound for Russia in 2019, mostly Filipino workers in health, construction and mining sectors, attributed to good personal relationship between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.

Meanwhile, a separate flights from the Russian far east of Khabarovsk to Kalibo, and Vladivostok to Kalibo and Cebu is likewise being prepared for both S7 and Aurora airlines for 2023 winter schedule. Both will be operated by Airbus A320 aircraft.

Israeli Airline EL Al To Fly Manila in November 2025

 12 August 2023

Israeli Airline El Al has announced that it will start flying to Manila from Tel Aviv thrice a week beginning November of 2025 using Boeing 787-900.

Chief Executive Officer Dina Ben-Tal Ganancia said El Al was definitely looking at the Philippines as its next destination in Asia Pacific following the opening of Japan last March 2023 and Melbourne launch in April of 2024.

Ganancia said Manila has been on their radar for quite sometime now and is part of of El Al's multi-year strategic plan as it grows its route network in Asia Pacific region, following the latest flight offering from Ben Gurion Airport to Tokyo Narita airport beginning March 1, 2023.

"It is definitely in the works now and we have ordered the plane last June for delivery by November of 2025, so they are coming to Manila soon," says Ms. Ganancia.

El Al will receive two additional Boeing 787 Dreamliners in 2025 and 2026 following a lease agreement signed with AerCap at the Paris Air Show last June 2023.

El Als strategic route plan calls for introduction of flights to Australia, the Philippines, Singapore and Maldives between 2025 and 2028, and plans to expand its Boeing 787 fleet, currently comprising 4-800s and 12-900s, to 22 by 2028.

El Al said Manila is the most promising destination for the airline but due to airways restrictions in Saudi Arabia and Oman they were put on hold.

Ganancia said the airline had already received approval to fly over Saudi Arabia in July 2022 but also needed to fly over Oman to skirt Iran and save time for journeys to Asia Pacific. Overflights in Oman airspace was secured in February this year.

Israeli Foreign Minister Eliyahu Cohen who visited Manila last June has worked on the regulatory approval of El Al to fly to Ninoy Aquino International Airport and was given early morning arrival and departure time. It was also given Terminal 1 for its gate.

Cohen said he arranged direct air links between Tel Aviv and Manila for El Al, after its code share plan with flag carrier Philippine Airlines which intended to fly the route then fizzled in 2021 due to the latter's financial problems brought by covid19 pandemic, as they were forced to return substantial number of wide-body fleet.

Cohen said Filipinos going to Israel are mostly christian pilgrims who fly via Hong Kong or a city in Middle East. While some connects in Bangkok where El Al also has flights.

"This time they will be flying direct soon," says Cohen.

Filipino tourists to Israel has expanded a whopping growth of 40 percent with 19,300 Filipino tourists to Israel from January to June 2023 versus 2019, the statistics release by the Israel Ministry of Tourism. This data does not include Overseas Filipino workers who also works in Israel.

"2023 has been outstanding and by far the best year for Israel tourism in the Philippines. It has been an important market for us, and we see huge potential in the Philippine market. The Israel Ministry of Tourism in the Philippines will continue to make progress on the issues of awareness and connectivity."Sammy Yahia, director of Israel Ministry of Tourism Philippines, said.

Filipinos can enjoy visa-free travel to Israel for up to 59 days, while Israelis can enjoy visa-free travel to the Philippines for up to 59 days.

How Long Did United Wait To Fly Directly To Manila?

And Why San Francisco instead of Los Angeles?

10 August 2023

"For a while" says Wally Dias, Regional Director for Sales in China, Korea, and Southeast Asia, which is actually a long time covering five years since application was made in 2018. 

PAL Exceeds US$71 Million Comprehensive Net Income Earned In 1st Half of 2022 This Year

10 August 2023

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) announced Wednesday that it has exceeded its comprehensive Net Income for 2022 this year, according to the disclosure of its President and Chief Operating Officer.

Airline President and COO Captain Stanley Ng said they are expecting increased profits in 2023, bigger than what was reported in 2022.

"Only the first half of this year, we already exceeded the net income of last year," he said. 

PAL registered an operating income of US$ 125 Million (P6.6 Billion), and net comprehensive income of US$ 71 Million (P4.2 Billion) for the first half of 2022. 

This year PAL reported a net income of US$ 250 million (P13.6 billion) and an operating income of US$ 314 million (P17.4 billion) for the initial half of the year.

Ng said PAL has since seen strong growth since the second half of 2022.

"Since the second half of last year, we’ve seen significant recovery. Like the passenger demand is growing stronger than ever, and initially we expected some slowdown, this year, early. However, it didn’t happen," he said.

"So we have extended some of the leases that we can. And try to bring, reactivate some of the planes to actually cover the demand today," he noted.

The COO said they are also refurbishing old planes to stay competitive without elaborating the type of aircraft.

The airline previously extended leases of its two Boeing 777s for another three years, and is looking for another two frames to cover demand of passengers as it awaits delivery of its nine new long haul plane in 2025.

"We ordered new Airbus 350-1000s, that should be an addition to our fleet, and possible replace some of the older fleet as well," Ng said. 

PAL earlier ordered nine high gross weight variant of the A350-1000 with two options, for delivery starting last quarter of 2025.

The airline is also improving its product services as it opens super Mabuhay Lounge at NAIA Terminal 1 this October. It earlier opened Domestic Mabuhay Lounge in Mactan Cebu, and would open Mabuhay Lounges in Puerto Princesa, Panglao, Bacolod and General Santos soon.

"Were also revamping our Mabuhay Miles Program so that its easier for customers or passengers to use their miles" says Ng. 

The new Mabuhay Miles Program will be launch in September.

Ng also revealed why PAL tickets remained high as it was dependent upon demand.

"Today, demand is so high and capacity is so low. If you book early you can still avail of the lower fare"

The airline expects ticket prices to stabilize next year as more capacity is added to the market.

Captain Ng said he welcomes competition to the North American market, referring to the entry of United Airlines to the Philippines for direct flights to San Francisco beginning October 27.

Captain Ng said they have a healthy cash flow today but would invest this money for new aircraft aqcquisitions and technology.

"We are focusing on those things, but right now we are spending it on lounges, and refurbishing old planes," Ng remarks.

Philippines Adds 58 New Flights in 2023

 2 August 2023

International Flights

Philippine airports has added 58 new weekly international flights this year from various gateway points according to the Department of Tourism (DoT).

DOT said Wednesday almost all international gateway in the Philippines has received new and resumption flights in 2023, citing data from its Routes Development report for June 2023.

The gateway airports are Manila, Clark, Cebu, Panglao, Kalibo, and Davao.

DoT said their data doesn't include yet the plan resumption of daily flight from United Airlines, as well as four more airlines that wishes to operate in the Philippines.

For its midyear data, Manila added seven weekly flights from Tokyo with ZipAir B787 flights and And two additional Air China B737 flights to Chengdu, while Cebu received seven new flights from China Eastern Airlines to Shanghai, four Philippine Air Asia weekly flightsto Tokyo, two Cebu Pacific weekly flights to Taipei, and two additional weekly flights by Asiana Airlines to Incheon.

Two additional weekly flights is also added to Bohol offered by Asiana Airlines and seven more by Air Busan, both originating from Seoul's Incheon airport.

Kalibo likewise attracted three new weekly flights from Hangzhou, three from Ningbo, and three from Wenzhou, all by Loong Air; four from Chengdu by Ok Airways, and two from Taipei by TigerAir Taiwan.

Clark also added seven Asiana Airlines weekly flights from Seoul; Caticlan three Royal Air weekly flights from Hong Kong; and Lallo airport in Cagayan Province, two Royal Air flights from Macau.

DoT said eight of the country’s international gateways reported more incoming flights and seats each week.

In its June data, the DoT said Clark posted a 180% increase in incoming scheduled weekly frequencies and a 215% rise in incoming weekly seats. The corresponding gains for Manila were 75% and 120% respectively.

“In Visayas, Kalibo recorded a 640% increase in incoming frequencies and 409% increase in incoming seats, Cebu 300% and 297% (respectively), and Bohol 200% and 128% (respectively),” the DoT said.

“Davao saw a 50% increase in incoming frequencies, and 38% increase in incoming seats,” it added.

Domestic Flights
Tourism Department also disclosed massive increased in offered domestic seats despite airlines aircraft problem, due to new routes and the resumption of services.

“The industry gained from at least 17 city pairs, with about 83 incoming weekly frequencies that were launched between July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023. 

These new city pairs included new domestic flights between Cebu-Baguio (4 frequencies per week), Cebu-Borongan (2 frequencies per week), and Cebu-Naga (4 frequencies per week),” the DoT said.


“Among the domestic flights that resumed in the same period were: Clark to Bacolod, Busuanga, Cagayan de Oro, Caticlan, Davao, Iloilo, General Santos, and Puerto Princesa; Manila to Tablas and Lal-o; Davao to Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro, and Siargao; and Zamboanga to Cotabato,” it added.

For 2023, the DoT is targeting 4.8 million international arrivals, mainly from China, Korea, and Japan, against 2.65 million it received last year. The Philippines has logged over 3 million international arrivals as of July 19.