Philippines Flag Carrier Prepares to Resume Flights to London

[Ako Si Jamie]

£912 on PIC UK. Far too expensive.

http://www.pic-uk.com/special-offers...flight/70.html

[Terpe]

£912 on PIC UK. Far too expensive.

http://www.pic-uk.com/special-offers...flight/70.html

It says 'online special offer'

[grahamw48]

There's always the budget seats...


.

[malchard888]

Philippine Airlines is expected to return to Europe on November 4, ending an absence of 15 years.

Subject to regulatory approval, PAL will launch non-stop flights to London Heathrow using B777-300ERs, according to airlineroute.net.

Reservations have already opened on airline GDSs like Amadeus and Galileo but, at the time of writing, bookings were not possible on PAL's own website.

Flights will operate five times a week. They are set to depart Manila just after 0800 to offer an early afternoon arrival into London the same day.

The return service is set to depart London in the late afternoon or early evening, to provide a lunchtime or mid-afternoon arrival back in Manila.

Small timing differences reflect the difficulty PAL has faced in obtaining Heathrow slots at the times it wishes to operate.

The departure times from Manila are at an unfashionably early hour for a flight of this length, but the departure times from London and the arrival times in both cities provide scope for arranging onward connections.

PAL configures its two-class B777-300ERs with 42 seats in business class and 328 seats in economy.

Business is disposed seven across 2-3-2, while economy adopts a ten-across 3-4-3 layout which some passengers might find rather tight on what will be a 14 hour flight. More details can be found on seatplans.com.

It is surprising that PAL has chosen Heathrow as its London gateway as airline experts had tipped Gatwick as favourite. Details of which Heathrow terminal will be used by PAL are unclear, but as PAL is a non-alligned carrier, one suspects it will be T4.

A bigger question is how has PAL managed to secure these much coveted slots at our busy main airport?

Also, it was expected that PAL would launch its London service with smaller A340-300s rather than the B777-300ER which is an overly large aircraft to launch a new route such as this.

As a destination, Manila is not well served from Europe - KLM remains the only European carrier with direct flights to the Philippines. It means that many Europeans access the Philippines via a hub in the Gulf or in Asia itself, such as Hong Kong.

It is expected that, as was the case when it last served Europe, PAL will make its best prices available through the travel trade.

Business Traveller will bring you further information when it becomes available.

philippineairlines.com

[raynaputi]

£912 on PIC UK. Far too expensive.

http://www.pic-uk.com/special-offers...flight/70.html

Luggage: 15kgs only!!!

I did a trial search on that link and I've seen travel time is between 12-13 hours more or less..

Too expensive!

[Slip]

I think we should just wait and see when it is official and all the i's have been dotted and t's crossed

[WhiteBloodAda]

They didn't give me any confirmation on twitter, just saying to keep an eye on updates on the website. Skyscanner has them as 2nd cheapest for 1 way either LHR to MNL (£509) and MNL to LHR (£256) in December. Bit of a pain in the bottom, as I need a return :P

Wish they'd fly from Manston though! That would be handy

[Ako Si Jamie]

Just did a Skyscanner search from Dec 14th to Jan 4th.

Good news is Philippine Airlines is the cheapest. Bad news it's £877.

[Jamesey]

Our flights for later this year are already booked with Asiana, but these PAL flights look great! Although expensive, it's a direct, non-stop flight!

I thought that LHR - MNL was simply too far, and a re-fuelling stop was necessary, but it looks like the Boeing engineers have managed to overcome that problem.

I'd certainly spend an extra hundred pounds for the convenience of a non-stop flight.

[bigmarco]

£1823.50 for 2 adults on the same dates in November as I paid £990 to Cathay Pacific. I'll stick with Cathay thanks.

[London_Manila]

Emirates £520 next month to Clark the better airport
I am going to bite the bullet and see if i can handle going via the middle east
I did read on Skytrax that changing planes at Dubai can be quite a pain
Dubai airport gets many bad reviews on that site

Surely these quoted prices for Philippine Airlines will come down with time
I would be willing to pay around £800 due to the fact its non stop
I would have thought maybe 3 flights a week would have been a better idea
Is there enough people wanting to travel to the Philippines to warrant 5 flights a week ?

[MHG]

@ Jamesey

Nope, it wasn´t aircraft related that PAL didn´t fly to Europe ...
The B777-300ER can make the distance without problems (no problems means no severe payload restrictions)

The Philippines as a whole country were (and still are) on the "EU-Blacklist" due to severe safety concerns.
It´s because CAAP (Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines) was deemed not able to maintain proper oversight of the airlines in the country not only by the Europeans but also by ICAO - the International Civil Aviation Authority and the FAA !
The general ban on airlines from the Philippines is still in effect but PAL was granted an "exemption".
PAL itself was not considered a dangerous airline by EASA/EU but the general ban prevented them from flying to Europe until the exemption was granted.

... and a few days ago Cebu Pacific decided to apply for a similar exemption from the general ban in november.
This due to the EU Air Safety Committee´s second meeting being scheduled on November 29.
Personally I´m not sure if this exemption will be granted (personally I have my doubts regarding safety at Cebu Pacific) but the EU/EASA guys certainly know their business and we´ll see ...

[Michael Parnham]

Very interesting!

[stevewool]

if the price was right i would fly from any airport , but i would only fly with certain carriers, not everyone is the same

[Ako Si Jamie]

Even direct to Manila I wouldn't pay more than £700. The travel time is attractive but to be honest I don't mind changing planes and having a few hours to walk around etc. So long as I got to the Phils within 24 hours I'm happy enough.

[Michael Parnham]

Even direct to Manila I wouldn't pay more than £700. The travel time is attractive but to be honest I don't mind changing planes and having a few hours to walk around etc. So long as I got to the Phils within 24 hours I'm happy enough.

That's why I normally use Qatar Jamie, it's nice to have a couple of hours break approx halfway through the journey, also from door to door never been over 24 hours!

[raynaputi]

Our flight via Qatar Airways this November costs £604 each for the return tickets. 17h 55mins travel time from Manchester to Manila. That's good enough for me.

[grahamw48]

Even direct to Manila I wouldn't pay more than £700. The travel time is attractive but to be honest I don't mind changing planes and having a few hours to walk around etc. So long as I got to the Phils within 24 hours I'm happy enough.

I'll second that.

Also I don't mind standing if the flight is cheap enough.

[stevewool]

Also I don't mind standing if the flight is cheap enough.

[Slip]

I would have thought maybe 3 flights a week would have been a better idea
Is there enough people wanting to travel to the Philippines to warrant 5 flights a week ?

It's not actually all about getting bums on seats. They can afford to quite easily travel with only 70% capacity of passengers.
Flights make more money with cargo on the flight. As long as the flights go with at least 70% passengers and the same for cargo then that is deemed a profitable flight.
However I do have my doubts they will achieve this 5 times a week and you are quite right to say three flights a week would have been a lot better.

[MHG]

They are probably targeting somewhat business travellers although the businessmarket towards the Phils. is limited if I´m not mistaken.
But only three weekly flights would certainly not be an attractive offer for business travellers ...

[Michael Parnham]

Our flight via Qatar Airways this November costs £604 each for the return tickets. 17h 55mins travel time from Manchester to Manila. That's good enough for me.

Nice to see you using Qatar, Enjoy!

[malchard888]

I wonder whether BA are considering the route too now they have acquired all the extra slots from BMI but unless they expect to put bums on seats in the more profitable "club class" ,maybe" cattle class" even if full would not generate sufficient revenue to make it worthwhile.
I just hope they will as competiton on direct flights would certainly have the effect of reigning in the prices now being banded about for when the PAL service commences.

[raynaputi]

Nice to see you using Qatar, Enjoy!

It was the cheapest for the dates we want.. (well China Southern was the cheapest at £420 but we can't have 2 stops and long flight duration )

[Ako Si Jamie]

It was the cheapest for the dates we want.. (well China Southern was the cheapest at £420 but we can't have 2 stops and long flight duration )

Didn't you see the flights with Cathay Pacific for under £500 a few months ago Rayna? Even now they have flights in November for around £550.

[raynaputi]

Didn't you see the flights with Cathay Pacific for under £500 a few months ago Rayna? Even now they have flights in November for around £550.

Yes I've seen it, but it's from London and the cost going to London from where we live isn't worth it. They do have flights coming from Manchester but still have to transfer to London.

[Michael Parnham]

Yes I've seen it, but it's from London and the cost going to London from where we live isn't worth it. They do have flights coming from Manchester but still have to transfer to London.

Plus travelling to Heathrow adds almost another day to the journey!

[Ako Si Jamie]

Yes I've seen it, but it's from London and the cost going to London from where we live isn't worth it. They do have flights coming from Manchester but still have to transfer to London.

I know Birmingham's a bit closer than Manchester but I always get the coach to Heathrow to get a flight. Works out cheaper than flying out of Birmingham. Return fare is less than £30 in November for me.

[raynaputi]

I know Birmingham's a bit closer than Manchester but I always get the coach to Heathrow to get a flight. Works out cheaper than flying out of Birmingham. Return fare is less than £30 in November for me.

Hahaha.. Jamie, we're 5 hours away from London (well driving) and Birmingham is just half the way from our place. We better stick to flying out to Manchester. And besides, Keith compared the prices of flying from London and Manchester, just around £30 difference. If we choose a flight from London, we have to drive down there and stay overnight in a hotel too coz Keith can't fly without having enough sleep because he can't sleep in the plane. Or else, his body would shut down.

[Jamesey]

@ Jamesey

Nope, it wasn´t aircraft related that PAL didn´t fly to Europe ...
The B777-300ER can make the distance without problems (no problems means no severe payload restrictions)

Thanks.