Beginning March 31, legacy carrier Philippine Airlines will operate a daily frequency flight between Nagoya and Cebu in a bid to strengthen Japanese tourist travel to the Philippines.
Flight PR-480 will depart from Nagoya’s Chubu Centrair International Airport at 9:10 a.m. every day, and arrive in Cebu by 2:30 p.m., while PR-479 will leave Cebu at 3:30 p.m. and touch down in Nagoya by 6:50 p.m.
All flights will depart from or arrive at Cebu’s brand new International Terminal 2, the country’s most heralded airport gateway known for its unique resort ambience.
PAL will utilize its 199-seater dual class Airbus A321ceo—with 12 seats on business and 187 seats on economy—for the daily Nagoya-Cebu flight service.
“Philippine Airlines takes pride in offering Japan’s business and leisure travelers a direct link to Cebu, the Queen City of the South. We are now the only airline flying daily direct to Cebu from Tokyo [Narita], Osaka and now Nagoya, and this represents PAL’s determination to invest in Cebu as a prime gateway to all the treasures of the Visayas and beyond,” said PAL president and chief operating officer Jaime J. Bautista.
He said that from Cebu, Japanese tourists can also board PAL’s direct flights to Palawan, Camiguin, Siargao, Bacolod, Iloilo, Tacloban, Boracay, Legazpi, Davao and other parts of the country via the airline’s extensive Cebu hub network.
“Our trademark Heart of the Filipino service will shine through in each and every flight,” added Bautista.
At present, PAL operates a four times weekly Nagoya-Cebu service.
The upcoming daily service will mark the most significant expansion since the Nagoya-Cebu service was first introduced in December 2014.
PAL has been flying from Nagoya to Manila since March 2005, a month after Nagoya first opened the Chubu Centrair International airport.
Voted recently as the No. 1 Most Improved Airline in the World and a fully Skytrax-certified 4-Star Global Airline, PAL operates by far the largest network of flights between Japan and the Philippines.
The Philippine flag carrier recently launched a thrice weekly flight between Manila and Sapporo. The carrier also links Osaka to Cebu seven times weekly, Tokyo Narita to Cebu 14 times weekly, Tokyo Narita to Manila 14 times weekly, Tokyo Haneda to Manila 14 times weekly, Osaka to Manila 14 times weekly, Nagoya to Manila seven times weekly, and Fukuoka to Manila seven times weekly.