Philippine Airlines is set to launch triangulated flights from Manila to Osaka and Taipei on June 25 to boost regional tourism.
“Our Manila-Taipei-Osaka service provides the convenience of a three-city route. These triangulated flights provide ease of connections and access to ‘beyond-traffic’,” PAL president and chief operating officer Jaime Bautista said.
The new service (Osaka-Taipei) was made possible through fifth freedom rights held by the Philippines.
Fifth freedom is the freedom to pick up passengers and cargo from a foreign country and carry them to a second country, which is the final destination.
“This will enable the Japanese market to travel to Taiwan with ease, comfort and convenience,” Bautista said.
The new Osaka-Taipei route will allow Japanese travelers to experience the PAL brand of inflight service marked by heartfelt warmth and hospitality.
Passengers may even journey on to Manila after a few days of stay in the Taiwanese city via PAL’s Taipei-Manila service and connect to any of the domestic and international destinations PAL flies to.
Leisure travelers from Taipei may take advantage of the direct flight to Japan and travel on to Manila or Cebu. PAL will used the modern 199-seater Airbus A321 aircraft for the route.
PAL has 10 weekly frequencies between Taipei and Manila and 14 frequencies between Osaka and Manila.
PAL Holdings Inc. earlier reported a net profit of P2.71 billion in the January-March period, down by 28 percent from P3.78 billion registered in the same period last year.
Revenues rose 4.1 percent in the first quarter to P29.12 billion from last year’s P27.98 billion.
PAL Holdings attributed the increase in revenue to the depreciation of Philippine peso, which averaged 47.27 per US dollar in the first quarter from last year’s 44.42 per greenback.
The company said if the exchange rate had remained at the 2015 level, total revenues would have decreased by P609.6 million.
Passenger revenues rose to P24.65 billion in the first quarter from P23.09 billion in the same period last year. Cargo revenues fell 31 percent to P1.47 billion from P2.14 billion.
Expenses in January to March grew 6.2 percent to P26.2 billion from P24.7 billion last year.
