Air France Returns To Manila

10 September 2024

European Carrier Air France (AFR) announces flight to the far east as it expands its Asian network.

Beginning December 7, 2024, Air France will link Manila to its hub at Paris-Charles de Gaulle operating thrice a week direct flights every Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays on Airbus A350-900 aircraft, offering 34 seats in Business class, 24 seats in Premium, and 266 in Economy.

The flight will alternate with Amsterdam-based KLM, using the same slots and operating at Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3.

AF208: Leaves Paris-Charles de Gaulle at 11:20pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays, arriving in Manila at 7:30pm (next day),

AF209: Leaving Manila at 9:50pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays, arriving at Paris-Charles de Gaulle at 5:50am (next day).

Meanwhile, KLM will operate with 4 flights a week from Amsterdam Schiphol airport, every Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays, using B787-900 aircraft.

Air France-KLM Group will provide daily European flights to Manila by coordinating their respective flight schedules, with KLM reducing flight services.

Air France will also add flights to Tokyo Haneda this winter (up to 15 flights a week), Osaka (up to 3 flights a week), Beijing (up to 7 flights a week), Shanghai (up to 7 flights a week), Hong Kong (up to 7 flights a week), Seoul (up to 7 flights a week), Bangkok (up to 13 flights a week), Singapore (up to 10 flights a week), and Ho Chi Minh City (3 flights a week).

The introduction of Manila marks Air France’s 5th new route for the winter 2024-2025 season. 

During this period, the airline will inaugurate new routes to Salvador de Bahia (Brazil, 3 flights a week from October 28, 2024), Kilimanjaro (Tanzania, 3 flights a week from November 18, as an extension from Zanzibar), Malé (Maldives, up to 2 flights a week from December 20) and Kiruna (Sweden, 1 flight a week from December 21).

French controlled Air France-KLM Group transported 83 million passengers in 2022.

The carrier last flew to Manila in March 2004 with Airbus A340-300 aircraft. This time it will be operated by Airbus A350-900.

 

Leading Edge Air Opens Jolo

10 September 2024

Leading Edge Air Services (LEASCOR) has opened flight services from Zamboanga to Jolo  and Zamboanga to Cebu using ATR72-500 aircraft (RP-C9962) today.;

The flight will be flown every Tuesday and Saturday on the following routes: 

Cebu- Zamboanga – 0600H- 0723H; 

Zamboanga – Jolo – 0823H 0 0914H; 

Jolo- Zamboanga – 1014H – 1100H, and 

Zamboanga – Cebu – 1200H – 1330H

Fares are reported as follows:

P3,285 for Jolo-Zamboanga;

P3,386 for Zamboanga-Jolo;

P4,700 for Cebu-Zamboanga-Cebu

2023 Busiest Airport in the Philippines

5 September 2024

2023 BUSIEST AIRPORTS IN THE PHILIPPINES
NUMBER	AIRPORT	CODE	TRAFFIC	PPP	2022 Rank
1	NINOY AQUINO INTERNATIONAL APT	MNL	45,299,607	NNIC	1
2	MACTAN CEBU INTERNATIONAL APT	CEB	10,050,340	M-GMR	2
3	FRANCISCO BANGOY INTERNATIONAL APT	DVO	3,844,895	O & M	3
4	CATICLAN	MPH	3,288,166	Trans Aire Dev	10
5	ILOILO INTERNATIONAL APT	ILO	2,330,053	O & M	5
6	CLARK INTERNATIONAL	CRK	2,000,381	M-GMR	9
7	LAGUINDINGAN APT	CGY	1,990,291	O & M	6
8	TACLOBAN APT	TAC	1,539,674	O & M	11
9	BACOLOD APT	BCD	1,874,261	O & M	8
10	PUERTO PRINCESA INTERNATIONAL APT	PPS	1,717,976	O & M	7
11	TAGBILARAN	TAG	1,653,868	O & M	13
12	ZAMBOANGA APT	ZAM	1,078,343	O & M	12
13	GENERAL SANTOS	GES	904,290	O & M	14
14	BUTUAN	BXU	820,774	GAA	15
15	KALIBO INTERNATIONAL APT	KLO	952,994	GAA	4
16	DUMAGUETE	DGT	650,831	GAA	17
17	LEGASPI	DRP	662,580	GAA	16
18	BUSUANGA	USU	594,526	GAA	18
19	SIARGAO	IAO	552,838	GAA	NEW
20	ROXAS	RXS	404,463	GAA	21
21	OZAMIZ	OZC	320,295	GAA	19
22	PAGADIAN	PAG	306,277	GAA	24
23	DIPOLOG	DPL	257,779	GAA	22
24	TUGUEGARAO	TUG	225,961	GAA	23
25	LAOAG	LAO	187,069	GAA	25
	Up	Airports with 1 million passengers or more are eligible for Public-Private partnership.
	Down	Airports below 1 million does not qualify for PPP project due to poor investor returns.
	Same	O & M- To be Privatized airports, GAA - Remains with Government

CEB Reopens Iloilo Hub

5 September 2024

Low Cost Carrier (LCC) Cebu Pacific (CEB) has continued its hub building in Iloilo airport as it offers new routes outside Metro Manila with the relaunch of flights from Iloilo to Tacloban and new flight from Iloilo to Zamboanga starting October.

In a statement on Wednesday, the airline said it would offer Iloilo-Tacloban flights four times a week by Oct. 27, while the Iloilo-Zamboanga route will commence on Oct. 28 and will be operated thrice weekly with ATR72 aircraft.

Flights to Tacloban will be every Tuesday,Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, while new Zamboanga flight begins October 28 and every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

“The addition of our new domestic routes from Iloilo aligns with our mission of making air travel accessible to a wider range of passengers.” Cebu Pacific president and chief commercial officer Xander Lao said. 

 "We look forward to flying more Juans across our growing inter-island network and better enabling them to discover the beautiful islands of the Philippines," Lao adds.

In July, Cebu Pacific announced that it was reopening direct flights from Iloilo to Hong Kong and Singapore in October 27. 

The budget carrier flies Manila, Cebu, and Davao domestically.