PH Signs EU Horizontal Aviation Agreement

4 January 2019

The Philippines and the European Union (EU) have signed the PH-EU Horizontal Aviation Agreement during a ceremony held at the Justus Lipsius Building in Brussels on 29 November 2018.

Ambassador to Brussels and the European Union Eduardo José A. de Vega, and Ambassador of the Permanent Representative of Austria to the EU and Permanent Representatives Committee Chairman Nikolaus Marschik and European Commission’s Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport (DG MOVE) Deputy Head of Unit Klaus Geil signed the agreement on behalf of the Philippines and European Union, respectively.

A horizontal agreement is an international agreement negotiated by the Commission on behalf of EU Member States, in order to bring all existing bilateral air services agreements between EU Member States and a given third country in line with EU law.

The signing of the Agreement is an important milestone for Philippine-EU bilateral relations. It will not only remove nationality restrictions in bilateral air services agreements between the Philippines and EU Member States but will also harmonize standards and provisions between the Philippines and EU Member States in the fields of safety, taxation of aviation fuel, and compatibility with competition rules.

The Philippines has existing air services agreements with the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and the Netherlands.

PAL Expands Kalibo Hub

3 January 2019

Flag Carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) is expanding its Kalibo hub this year by growing its international route network to China.

PAL will open Kalibo to Hangzhou (4x weekly A320) and Nanjing (3x weekly A320) in January 22 and January 23, respectively. It was originally scheduled for launch on October 28 but was deferred due to regulatory delays.

Kalibo – Hangzhou eff 23JAN19 4 weekly
2P9741 KLO1740 – 2110HGH 320 x135
2P9742 HGH2215 – 0135+1KLO 320 x135

Kalibo – Nanjing eff 23JAN19 3 weekly
2P2638 KLO1310 – 1710NKG 320 135
2P2639 NKG1815 – 2210KLO 320 135

Meanwhile, Kalibo – Shanghai Pudong will begin on January 14 thrice a week.

Kalibo –Shanghai eff 14JAN19 3 weekly
2P2745 KLO1915 – 2315PVG 320 135
2P2746 PVG0015 – 0415KLO 320 246

The airline currently flies to Seoul Incheon, Busan, Beijing, and Chengdu out of Kalibo International Airport. 

E-Gates Expedites Entry To Country

3 January 2019


The introduction of Electronic Gates (e-gates) at NAIA in October has paved the way in the drastic reduction of queues for border control of arriving Filipinos at the country's premier airport.

Called “Fast Travel” program, it was introduced by the International Air Transport Association to simplify and improve the clearing processes. It is also used in pinpointing citizens under the watch list and or persons of interest in immigration formalities.

E-gates are normally found at developed countries around the world. It was introduced to the Philippines three months ago and became an instant hit to arriving Filipinos particularly during peak hours where queue is normally longer.

Twenty Three e-gates are commissioned by the Philippine government to be installed at major and busy international airports across the country with a price tag of P328,869,000.

There were 13 e-gate machines installed in NAIA (5 at NAIA 1, 3 at NAIA 2, and 5 at NAIA 3), while Mactan-Cebu got five machines. Soon, Clark will have five e-gates installed, and another three e-gates will be installed in Davao in 2019.

Another set of e-gates machines are already ordered for installation in Kalibo, Iloilo, and Bacolod, while another set is earmarked for Puerto Princesa, Tagbilaran, and Zamboanga.

Immigration Commissioner Jamie Morente said that e-gates have shortened the processing time of Filipino travelers holding machine readable passports to only 8 to 15 seconds per passengers from the previous 45-60 seconds.

E-gates for Philippine Passport at NAIA T3 already cut queues by 50-70% during rush hour, according to Port Operations Division Chief Grifton Medina.

China Southern Links Guangzhou To Cebu

3 January 2019

Chinese carrier China Southern is flying to Mactan Cebu beginning 22 January 2019. The service will be flown thrice weekly from Guangzhou to Cebu with Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The airline currently operates three daily flights to Manila.

Okay Air Grows Kalibo

China Eastern Adds Chengdu to Route

3 January 2019

Chinese carrier Okay Airways has added Nanning to its growing route network from Kalibo and has flown the route since December 7.

The airline operates this route 3 times a week with Boeing 737-800 aircraft.


Okay Airways flies from Kalibo to Changsa since October 29 and has added Tianjin and Xi’an on December 7 and 8, respectively.

Meanwhile, China Eastern has connected Kalibo to Chengdu since Dec 29, 2018 with Airbus A320 aircraft. The airline will operate this route 4 times a week.

MU5099 CTU1020 – 1500KLO 320 x135
MU5100 KLO1600 – 2110CTU 320 x135

PAL To Fly Tel Aviv

2 January 2019

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) is seeking regulatory clearance to mount thrice weekly A330-300 direct flights to Israel beginning November 2019, following approval of special overflight agreement between Saudi Arabia and the Philippines that is expected be sign next month.

The Civil Aeronautics Board earlier send request to the Saudi Arabian government to use the latter's airspace after PAL manifested intent to fly the route directly or via India through fifth freedom traffic rights.

The route will be code-shared with Israel's El Al Airlines (ELY). PAL earlier signed Memorandum of Understanding with ELY in 2016 for route cooperation and development between Tel Aviv and Manila and vice versa.

Israel is the third largest tourism market of the Philippines in the Middle East following United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia.

In 2018, the Israel Ministry of Tourism (IMOT) said that as of November 2018, more than 27,000 Filipinos have already visited Israel compared to the 23,500 for the same period of last year, or an increase of 25% arrival, via Hong Kong and Turkey. No Middle Eastern airline that calls in Manila flies to Israel.

“2018 has been outstanding and by far the best year for Israel tourism in the Philippines and worldwide. By November, we already surpassed the 2017 Filipino tourist arrival in Israel. The Philippines has been an important market for us and I am pleased to say that we have witnessed a constant growth over the last two years,” said IMOT-Philippines Director Hassan Madah.

IMOT said they are expecting 30,000 Filipinos to come to Israel from the Philippines this year.

Latest Israeli statistics indicate that Filipino arrivals in Israel worldwide increased to 459,138 in June 2016 from 445,449 in May of 2016. The United States comprising mostly Christians remains by far the largest source of tourism in the holy land, with approximately 813,000 Americans staying overnight in Israel this year.

Meanwhile, there were more than 17,000 Israelis that visited the Philippines in 2017 according to data provided by the Department of Tourism. The agency said they are expecting this number to rise to 25,000 by end of 2018. 

PAL Expands Manila Hub

Add's Phnom Penh and Hanoi To Network

2 January 2019

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) is flying to Hanoi from Manila beginning March 31 four times a week on Airbus A320 aircraft. It will also launch flight to Phnom Penh in Cambodia from Manila 5 times a week on Airbus A320 beginning on April 1.

The flight schedules are listed below
Manila – Hanoi 4 weekly flights on A320 (Reservation to open soon)
PR595 MNL2225 – 0045+1HAN 320 x246
PR596 HAN0145 – 0530MNL 320 x357

Manila – Phnom Penh 5 weekly flights on A320 (Reservation to open soon)
PR521 MNL2210 – 2345PNH 320 x37
PR522 PNH0045 – 0420MNL 320 x14

The airline is also increasing flight services beginning March 31 from Manila to Bangkok, Jakarta, Osaka, Busan, Kuala Lumpur, Doha, Brisbane, Sydney, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Toronto, and New York.

PAL Returns To India

Flies New Delhi and Bombay Direct

2 January 2019

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) has announced that it will be flying back to India beginning with direct flights to New Delhi on March 31, 2019 utilizing the new 168-seater dual-class Airbus A321NEO aircraft.

PR726 will depart from Manila at 7:15AM every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday and arrive in New Delhi at 12:35PM. PR 727 will leave New Delhi at 1:35 on the same days and touch down in Manila at 10:35PM.

Meanwhile, direct flights to Mumbai is scheduled to commence on October 31 and will be flown thrice a week every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday using A321Neo aircraft. Schedules will be publish as soon as they become available.

PAL last flew to New Delhi via Bangkok in June 17, 2013 before suspending the service because of poor sales and bad schedule. Services to Delhi has seen flight downgrades from Airbus 330 to Airbus 320 in the past until service termination.