Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) announced that it will mount more flights and routes out of Cebu in the coming months to create convenient connections that will boost tourism, drive business and progressively expand its inter-island network from the Mactan-Cebu International Airport.
In a statement, PAL said lined up is a pioneer route to Ilocos Norte to be launched on Dec. 15 along with routes to Bicol, Ozamiz and southern Mindanao on the same week.
“We at Philippine Airlines look up to Cebu as a prime center of economic innovation, sustainable tourism and progress for the entire Philippines,” said PAL President and COO Capt. Stanley K. Ng.
He noted that, “we are steadily building up our network of flights in and out of Mactan-Cebu, with new routes in December and further plans for new connections in 2024.”
“Our goal is to further strengthen connectivity between Cebu and the rest of the archipelago, invigorating the tourism industry and supporting local business growth,” Ng added.
PAL Express President Rabbi Vincent Ang said “we have grown flight frequencies by 10% from our Cebu Hub since last year, increasing from 16 to 20 domestic destinations and offering more than 260 weekly round trip flights to and from Cebu.”
“We look forward to serving more and more family travelers, adventurers and businesspeople this holiday season and beyond into an exciting new year,” he added.
On Dec. 15, PAL will unveil a brand-new twice weekly route from Cebu to Laoag – the first such air link between the Ilocos Norte capital and the central Philippines.
Meanwhile, the resumption of routes to General Santos, Legazpi and Ozamiz will enable more travelers to enjoy the convenience of flying directly from Cebu to these thriving cities in Luzon and Mindanao.
These flights will employ PAL’s De Havilland Dash 8-400 Next Generation aircraft offering 86 seats, including six Comfort Class seats – the highest capacity turboprops in the Philippine domestic market able to access smaller island airports whose runways are not long enough to accommodate larger jet-powered aircraft.
To help augment the domestic fleet and support Cebu hub operations, PAL took delivery of one additional Dash 8-400 Next Generation aircraft that rejoined the airline’s fleet on Nov. 24, after a ferry flight from Ontario, Canada.
By next month, PAL will operate more than 260 weekly roundtrip domestic flights between Mactan-Cebu airport and 20 destinations in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.