|
THE new budget unit of Philippine Airlines (PAL) said it will expand
its domestic flight destinations from its secondary hub in Manila
next week.
In a statement, PAL Express said it will start
daily service to San Jose in Occidental Mindoro; Virac, Catanduanes;
and Surigao City, Surigao del Norte on July 15.
In addition, PAL Express will start flying to
Calbayog, Samar, and Catarman, Northern Samar, on July 17 and August
1, respectively.
The company said it would deploy its newly
acquired 76-seater Bombardier Q400 turbo-prop aircraft for four of
the new routes except for San Jose, which will be served by the
slightly smaller, 50-seater Bombardier Q300.
“The addition of the five points to PAL
Express’ Manila-hub network follows on the heels of a similar
expansion on July 1, when five routes were launched from the
unit’s main hub at Mactan International Airport in Cebu,” the
company said.
These were the services between Cebu and Cagayan
de Oro, Cebu and Ozamiz, Cebu and Dipolog, Cebu and Zamboanga, and
Zam-boanga and Davao.
The 10 new routes more than double PAL
Express’ network in the space of one month. The low-fares brand
took off May 5 with its maiden service between Manila and Caticlan,
the gateway to world-famous resort-island of Boracay.
Two months ago, the carrier’s Cebu hub opened
with flights to Boracay, Bacolod, Butuan, General Santos, Tacloban
and Puerto Princesa.
The announcement came on the same day The Manila
Times reported that a separate unit, Air Philippines, had suspended
daily flights from Manila to Zamboanga, Davao and Cagayan de Oro and
vice versa. An Air Philippines official confirmed that the carrier
suspended some of its flights in Mindanao, citing skyrocketing jet
fuel prices.
The same official said that the suspended routes
will return once the price of crude stabilizes.
-- Darwin G. Amojelar
|
