Philippines Airlines To Launch Flights To New Zealand Via Australia From December 1

Philippine Airlines will be launching long haul flights to New Zealand from December 1, via Australia. This will be the first time an airlines from Philippines will be operating to New Zealand. There will be four A320 services in a week. The flights will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays in the Manila-Cairns-Auckland route with an Airbus A320 with 156-seats flying the route.

According to PAL president Jaime Bautista, the new service will stimulate passenger traffic along three sub routes— Manila and Cairns, Manila and Auckland, and Cairns and Auckland. "With close to 40,000 Filipinos residing in New Zealand, the new service is their convenient link to their home country," Bautista said in a statement. He expressed the confidence that the airline will drive traffic between Southeast Asia and New Zealand in the long term.

Timings

According to the tentative schedule, the flight to Cairns will depart Manila at 11:45 p.m. (Manila time) and arrive in Australia at 8 a.m. (local time), the following day. There will be one-hour stopover to pick up passengers from Cairns before the flight continues the journey to Auckland. It will reach New Zealand at 4 p.m, local time. Flights from Auckland will leave the same day at 6:30 p.m local time and arrive at Cairns by 10:30 p.m local time. After a brief stopover, the flight will take off to Manila and reach there at 3:30 a.m. Manila time, the following day.

Welcoming the new service, Auckland Airport's general manager (aeronautical commercial) Norris Carter said it is good news for the New Zealand tourism industry and economy. He said the new service will add 64,500 seats per year on the Manila to Auckland route and contribute an estimated NZ $41 million per year to the local economy, reports New Zealand Herald.

More Options

New Zealand had been experiencing "solid growth" from the Philippines market in recent years. "This new service will provide more options for visitors travelling to New Zealand and also for New Zealanders wishing to visit the Philippines,” Carter added. Carter also said Cairns connection will help Kiwis wanting to travel to the northern Queensland city and also help other visitors travelling to New Zealand. There is an Auckland-Cairns service run by Air New Zealand using an Airbus A320.

The proposed flights will be subject to regulatory approval. Commenting on the new flights from the Philippines, House of Travel commercial director Brent Thomas said Philippines is growing popular as a holiday destination for Kiwis.

(For feedback/comments, contact the writer at k.kumar@ibtimes.com.au)