PAL to begin nonstop flights from Manila to Auckland on December 6

MANILA, Philippines – Lucio Tan-led Philippine Airlines (PAL) announced it will begin flying nonstop from Manila to the New Zealand city of Auckland on December 6 this year.

The flag carrier currently flies to Auckland, but with a stopover in Cairns, Australia.

“With the forthcoming nonstop service, travel time to Auckland will be reduced to 10 hours from the current 12.15-hour Manila-Auckland via Cairns route,” PAL said in a statement on Monday, August 14.

PAL added that the new service would make it the only local airline to fly directly to Auckland.

The nonstop Manila-Auckland service will operate via PR218 thrice weekly – every Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday – leaving Manila at 11:15 pm and arriving in Auckland at 2:05 pm local time the following day.

PR219 will leave Auckland every Friday, Saturday, and Tuesday at 12:30 am local time and will touch down in Manila at 5:45 am.

PAL said it will use its twin-aisle dual class 254-seater A340s from its single-aisle 156-seater A320s for the direct flight, increasing capacity by 60%.

Canceling Manila-Cairns-Auckland route

The airline said the introduction of the new route means its existing Manila-Cairns-Auckland route will only be until December 5.

“Passengers with confirmed tickets for Manila-Cairns (and vice versa) on flights dated December 6, 2017 onwards may reroute to Manila-Darwin / Brisbane / Melbourne / Sydney and connect to Cairns via other airlines and vice versa. Passengers with confirmed tickets for Cairns-Auckland (and vice versa) flights will be endorsed to other airlines,” PAL said.

Passengers with confirmed tickets for Manila-Auckland (via Cairns) dated December 6 onwards will automatically be accommodated on the nonstop flights.

Passengers affected by the suspension of the Manila-Auckland (via Cairns) route can also rebook on their preferred dates or refund their tickets, the airline added. – Rappler.com