Riyadh Air Expands to MNL

18 August 2026

Saudi carrier Riyadh Air, Saudi Arabia’s second flag carrier, is mounting direct daily flights from Riyadh to Manila beginning September 9, 2026.

The carrier shall be utilizing the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner for the Manila route. 

The airline said their aircraft carries 290 passengers broken down into 28 in business class, 39 in premium economy, and 223 in economy cabin.

Flight RX873 departs King Khalid International Airport at 1:05 a.m. to land at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at 3:55 p.m., local time, while return flight RX874 takes off from Manila at 5:25 p.m. to arrive in Riyadh at 10:15 p.m., local time.

Cebu Pacific Expands CEB, CRK hub

 18 August 2026

Low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific (CEB) will expand its international network beginning in the last quarter of this year.

According to the airline, CEB will resume direct flights between Cebu and Ho Chi Minh City starting Oct. 26, every Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

Also CEB will launch direct flights between Cebu and Shanghai, China thrice weekly beginning November 17. This shall be followed with Nagoya, Japan on November 19, with flights departing four times a week, every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Meanwhile, the carrier is set to resume direct services between Clark and Hanoi, Vietnam starting Nov. 19 flying thrice a week,and between Manila and Xiamen beginning Nov. 23, with flights scheduled every Mondays and Fridays.

Turkey Expands Philippine Bilateral

 18 August 2026

The Philippines and Turkey has signed expanded Air Services Agreement (ASA) increasing flight frequency between Manila and Istanbul from 7 times weekly to 14 times a week.

The expanded Memorandum of Understanding was signed on Thursday in Turkey following talks in Istanbul between Türkiye’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the Philippines’ Civil Aviation Authority. 

Türkiye was represented by Director General Kemal Yüksek, while the Philippines was represented by Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez. 

The increase frequency is effective from the start of the northern winter schedule.

Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez said the agreement also calls for unlimited flights from Istanbul to secondary gateways in Cebu, Clark and Davao.

Air links between Türkiye and the Philippines began in 2015 with three weekly flights. The flight allocation was raised in 2022 to daily flights.  

 Currently, Turkisk airline flies daily to Manila using Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.