Flight Begins October 2
Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) will finally fly Seattle beginning October 2 on thrice a week service to Manila every Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays on board Boeing 777-300ER. Our previous report is here
PR124 leaves Manila at 10:40pm arriving Seattle Tacoma Airport at 7:15pm on the same day. Return flight PR125 leaves Seattle at 11:40pm arriving Manila at 4:45am.
Port of Seattle Commission Vice President Toshiko Hasegawa said “Nonstop service to Manila has long been one of our most frequently requested routes, and we’re thrilled that this new flight will not only serve the Puget Sound’s Filipino community but anyone who is interested in exploring the rich history, beauty, and hospitality of the Philippines.”
According to Hasegawa, Manila is Washington's largest unserved international market, with Philippine bound passengers taking connecting flights in Seoul, Tokyo, and Taipei.
Washington state is home to the country’s fourth-largest Filipino population, next to California, Hawaii, and Texas.
“We’ve been looking forward to this announcement for some time and are excited to welcome Philippine Airlines to our region,” said Lance Lyttle, Managing Director of the Port’s Aviation Division.
PAL was supposed to fly in May of 2020 before dispute with United Airlines caused it to postpone the relaunching at a later date. Dispute with UAL was resolved last year with UA launching flights from San Francisco to Manila.
PAL last flew to Seattle in 1998 with MD-11 aircraft.
Re-Introductory fares begins at US$797 one way, and $1,121 for return flight to Manila.
Seattle is the fifth destination of PAL in the United States after Los Angeles, San Francisco, Honolulu, and New York. It manifested intent to fly Houston and Chicago as their sixth and seventh destination by 2027.
I hope to catch the ex-Garuda 777-300ER on this route so I can enjoy the more comfortable 9-abreast layout in Economy. I am really disappointed that PAL is pushing for the horrific 10-abreast layout in Economy for their A350-1000. If only they still have more A350-900 aircraft.
ReplyDeleteAccording to PAL, this is the first time they are flying to Seattle.
ReplyDeleteYes
DeleteThey did fly to SEA on the way to ORD vv on MD-11 very briefly in 1998, while the other MD-11 route is YVR to EWR. Plane is from World Airways wet lease in 1996. Meaning, its all American. But of course you don't see this information anymore because google is not how it used to be. The former has no 5th freedom while the latter has. The former was flown for about a month or so, while the latter about 6 months or so. These are the routes MD-11 were allowed to fly by FAA since PI was on Cat 2 then. It was supposed to be flown by new A340. FAA Cat II got in the way in 1995. Even this fact is hard to find now. The 4 B744 takes LAX, SFO rotation with GUM stop. SEA stop was like that.
DeleteMike
PRs service to ORD was MNL-HNL-ORD, or MNL-HNL-SFO-ORD depending on day of the week. Westbound, the flight always flew the ORD-SFO-HNL-MNL due headwinds. Flights were always operated by 747-200s. Service was increased from 2x-3x a week, then a fourth was operated for about a month before service was dropped altogether. Flights departed from Terminal 3 at Ohare with Lufthansa handling the check in and gate operations. (or GSA handling Lufthansa at OHare- they wore Lufthansa uniforms). The service predated the MD11s by about five to seven years so the PR fleet during the Chicago service only comprised on the 747-200s, the DC10s and the A300s. Seattle was never served by PAL. MD11s flew two routes to US/NA- a MNL-ICN-LAX routing and a MNL-YVR-EWR flight. On winter months, the EWR flights stop at YVR and on certain days during the winter schedule made a technical stop at Kansai International Airport in Osaka. PAL/Philippines encountered 2 CAT2 windows. During the Chicago operation, there was no CAT2 restrictions. Besides EWR and ORD, only LAS were ex-PAL destinations in NA. Seattle unfortunately, was not served. This is an entirely new service.
ReplyDeleteThere are pics on airliners.net of the 747-200s on the OLD livery with the sticker Mabuhay Chicago! All services that i recall in ORD still contained the OLD livery with the red and blue cheatline. The MD11s never wore that livery
This was before 1992. 742s ceased to fly for PAL in 1993. DC10, 742s and MD11 were the only plane to fly ORD at different time periods. We are talking about the MD-11 which came to service for PAL in 1996 and how they flew SEA "briefly". They were wet lease due to FAA downgrade in 1995. The plan was for them to be service by A342s but alas it came late to the party. Not that it was delivered late but it was prevented from flying new aircraft to the US precisely because PI was placed in Cat II. So the MD-11 came to being as a stop gap measure. EWR and ORD was relaunch again in 1996. Note, services to ORD, EWR, YVR were not continuous then unlike LAX and SFO. There were 3 episodes of their flight services coming and going. Late 70s, late 80's and late 90's. These are different time periods, with different airplanes, DC10s, B742s, B744s and of course MD-11. Of the two episodes, PI were not in Cat II. FAA downgraded PI in 1995 and 2008. So you are correct. But you could be confused on one of these stop and fly operations by the airline then. They stop operating these destinations 3 times in the past. You are also correct on your routing pre-1992. As one of many hops to the mainland. The DC10s and 742s were actually hopping then to North America, as their ancestor DC-4s were. As newer planes with newer technology arrived they hopped longer. PAL re-started hopping from YVR to LAS in 2004 after regaining Cat I only to lose it in 2008. 10 years later they hopped again this time to JFK. It stopped hopping islands only in 2014 with Cat I restored and 77w finally allowed to fly straight, with occasional tech stop. The same thing they did with SEA, as tech stop to ORD, with rights however to carry pax to MNL.
DeleteWelcome and regards.
Mike
To tie that facts up, PAL introduce EWR in 1989 via LAX and SFO. It was serviced by DC10 and B742. It ceased operations in 1992. EWR service was reintroduced again in 1996 via YVR using MD11. It ceased operations in 1997. The next foray to New York would come in 2015 also via YVR on A343 after securing back Category 1. This time it flew to JFK.
DeleteORD was introduced to PAL network in 1985 first via SFO on Nov 6, 1985. The plane used was B742. Second was via HNL on Nov 21, 1985 with DC10. It ceased operations also in 1992. ORD service was re-introduced again initially via SEA in 1996 on MD11 before transferring it to LAX via ICN. Services were terminated in 1997. ORD has not been flown since.