In great news for Asia bound West Australian travelers they will now be spoilt for even more choice as Philippine Airlines have today launched the first ever direct flights between Perth and Manilla.
From today Philippine Airlines will operate a thrice weekly service with their Airbus A321 neo aircraft which provides an impressive three rows of business class seating equipped with flatbed seating in a 2-2 configuration. The Philippine flagship currently operates a total of 8 A321neos in a its fleet which focuses primarily on medium haul destinations and includes a total of 168 seats.
It is not the first time Philippine Airlines have foraged in the WA market having briefing serviced Perth through an indirect route via Darwin back in 2013 however today’s announcement finally puts to realization the airline’s hopes to begin direct services that were last floated in 2019 for a March 2020 launch that were ultimately scrapped due to the Covid pandemic.
Flights between Perth and Manilla are scheduled to oprate on Monday, Thursday and Saturday with the outbound flight PR224 departing Perth at 8.30am for a leaisurely 7 hour daytime flight across to Manilla before touching down at 3.30pm. The inbound flight from Manilla is slated for 7 hour and 10 minutes departing at 12.05am before arriving into Perth at 7.15am that morning.
When the new flights were first announced back in December Philippine Airlines President & COO Captain Stanley K. Ng who also flew the inaugural flight into Perth landed just after 7am local time this morning said “The new nonstop flights give Philippine Airlines and travel partners a great opportunity to promote the Philippines as a prime tourist and business destination for travelers in Western Australia. Likewise, we invite Filipinos to do business in Perth or visit family members while discovering this dynamic Australian region and building new friendships.”
The new route is anticipated to inject more than 52,000 seats into the market each year with WA Tourism Minister Roger Cook saying “I’m delighted this new non-stop flight has been scheduled for take-off from early next year, which has been delivered in partnership between the WA Government through Tourism Western Australia, Philippine Airlines and Perth Airport”.
“The Southeast Asia region has been leading the recovery of our international visitor economy since reconnecting with the world earlier this year, and this new service will provide an important connection between WA and the Philippines he said”
