PAL resumes flight to Guangzhou

MANILA, Philippines — Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) has restored its direct flights to Guangzhou, China.

In an advisory, PAL announced that it would resume today its Manila to Guangzhou and vice versa route, marking the second network to China that it restored this year.

From here on, the airline would operate, as an initial effort, a once a week flight every Saturday to Baiyun International Airport in Guangzhou.

Flight PR 382 departs the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at 3:35 a.m. and lands in Guangzhou nearly three hours later. On the other hand, Flight PR 383 flies out of Guangzhou at 8:40 in the morning and arrives in Manila more than two hours after.

PAL said that it would adjust the schedule of the Guangzhou to Manila flights by Jan. 28, moving the departure time to 7:10 in the morning. The flag carrier plans to keep the morning timetable for its Guangzhou trips to offer passengers early day arrivals.

Further, PAL said it would deploy an Airbus A330-330 with up to 363 seats and an Airbus A321ceo with a maximum of 199 seats for its Manila to Guangzhou flights.

PAL vice president for network planning Christoph Gaertner said that PAL passengers going to and from China would be required to adhere to testing protocols mandated by the government.

“As always, passengers would need to comply with any arrival testing protocols implemented by the Philippine and Chinese governments,” Gartner said.

Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista wants the government to tighten border protocols against incoming visitors from China. He proposed that RT-PCR testing be required similar to how Hong Kong contains the entry of people in its territory.

At present, China is suffering from another wave of COVID-19 cases just as it lifted its hardline policy on leisure travel. Infections are projected to worsen in the weeks to come, particularly for the Lunar New Year celebrations, with hundreds of millions traveling to their home provinces.

Gaertner said PAL plans to expand its Chinese network of flights even with what’s happening in China, as it prepares for the eventual restoration of all of its pre-pandemic routes to the world’s second largest economy.

Prior to the pandemic, the flag carrier operated up to 35 flights every week to five cities in China, namely, Beijing, Guangzhou, Jinjiang, Shanghai and Xiamen.