Philippine Airlines’ Perth to Manila service ready to take-off

The new direct service commences on 27 March 2023 and will operate three flights per week.

Perth Airport Chief Executive Officer Kevin Brown said that the new service was a win for WA business, tourism and exports.

“This exciting new route will inject more than 52,000 seats into the market each year and we’re keen to see more Filipino students choose to study in Perth to help the education sector as well as our tourism and hospitality markets.

“The same is true in reverse. With more than 7,000 islands and amazing beaches on offer, the Philippines also offers Western Australians an attractive holiday destination.

“The schedule into Manila will maximise the opportunity to connect to some incredible Philippines destinations, including Cebu and Davao, as well as making the most of Philippine Airlines’ extensive network throughout Asia and beyond to the USA.

The direct service between Perth and Manila was originally announced in 2019 and was scheduled to begin in 2020. Instead, Covid hit, and international passenger numbers plummeting by 97 per cent.

Earlier this year, Australia and the Philippines celebrated 75 years of diplomatic and cooperative relations making this new direct service another way of connecting our two great nations.

“The Philippines was one of the fastest growing economies in the south-east Asia region between 2010 and 2019 with an average annual growth of 6.4 per cent so we believe that a direct connection with the Philippines is a key component in our aviation recovery.

“Pre-Covid, we had experienced a growth of 15 per cent from the Philippine visitor market, with 90,000 passengers travel between Philippines and Perth in 2019 with strong traffic in both directions.

“We are working closely with the State Government to rebuild aviation through Perth Airport – which in turn supports 100,000 jobs, our $2 billion international student sector supporting 10,000 jobs, and WA exporters that rely on passenger flights for 83 per cent of all air freight exports.

“Since the international borders reopened in March 2022, we have recovered around 60 per cent of our international traffic, and we are looking forward to working more with the Minister for Tourism and the State Government to further enhance these industries in Western Australia.”

The airline will operate the service on a A321 neo which has 168 seats, including 12 fully flat Business class seats.

The service will operate on Monday, Thursday and Saturday arriving into Perth at 7.30am and departing at 9.00am.

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