Executives of United Airlines on Wednesday expressed optimism about the daily nonstop service from Manila to San Francisco on “exploding” demand for US travel.
“We are seeing the travel demand for US exploding as far as international demand is concerned, and we’re very confident that the flight will be well,” Walter Dias, United’s regional director of sales for Greater China, Korea and Southeast Asia, said in a briefing.
“The Philippines is fantastic destination for our customers in the US,” he said.
The first westbound flight from SFO to Manila would depart on Oct. 29, 2023. All flights will use the B777-300ER aircraft offering 60 seats in the United Polaris business cabin, 24 seats in the United Premium Plus cabin and 266 seats in the United Economy cabin.
Dias also expressed confidence that load factor for the Manila to San Francisco service would be higher.
Data from the Department of Tourism showed that US tourists visiting the Philippines reached 505,089 in 2022.
The DOT said travelers from the US accounted for 550,579 or 18.35 percent of the total 3 million tourists in the first seven months of 2023.
United Airlines operates two-times daily flights between Manila and Palau and daily flights from Manila to Guam.
San Francisco is United’s largest hub airport in the US West Coast and a gateway to Asia-Pacific. United operates more than 200 daily departures from San Francisco International Airport, taking customers to more than 100 destinations around the globe, including the most international service with flights to 31 different international cities.
The hub will offer direct flights to 15 Asia-Pacific destinations this winter, including Manila (Philippines), Auckland and Christchurch (New Zealand), Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney (Australia), Haneda/Tokyo, Narita/Tokyo, and Osaka (Japan), Incheon/Seoul (South Korea), Papeete/Tahiti, Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taipei.