“The nonstop service is expected to boost travel and tourism on the increasingly popular route that links the Philippines with the commercial centre of Queensland and gateway to the Gold Coast. Queensland is also home to a growing number of migrant and expatriate Filipinos,” PAL said in a statement.
Philippine Airlines (PAL) will launch direct non-stop flights between Manila and Brisbane starting March 27. Flights will be four times weekly.
“The nonstop service is expected to boost travel and tourism on the increasingly popular route that links the Philippines with the commercial centre of Queensland and gateway to the Gold Coast. Queensland is also home to a growing number of migrant and expatriate Filipinos,” PAL said in a statement.
“Flying direct to Manila will help encourage Queensland-based Australians to consider holiday trips to the Philippines,” it added.
The nonstop flight to Brisbane will remove the usual stopover at Darwin. PAL said it would temporarily suspend flights to Darwin, insisting they are not economically sustainable.
“The airline will revisit this decision in the near future as market conditions improve,” PAL said.
PAL said that it will utilise a 254-seater aircraft initially and PAL’s brand new Airbus A321 NEO aircraft later in the first half of 2018 for the route.
PAL noted that the direct Manila-Brisbane route is the airline’s latest move to convert one-stop flights to non-stop for public convenience. Other non-stop flights are from Manila to Toronto, Auckland, Doha, Kuwait and Jeddah.