PAL restores flights to Beijing, Shanghai

MANILA, Philippines — Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) has restored its flight services to Beijing and Shanghai in a development seen to improve investment ties and tourist exchange between the Philippines and China.

PAL yesterday announced the relaunch of its direct flights from Manila to Beijing and Shanghai after nearly three years since they were suspended due to the pandemic.

PAL president and chief operating officer Stanley Ng said the resumption of flights to the capital city and financial center of China would boost visitor arrivals here in the Philippines.

China was the second largest source of tourists prior to the pandemic with 1.74 million Chinese visiting the Philippines in 2019. Ng said the restoration of PAL flights to Beijing and Shanghai would enhance business travel coming into the Philippines.

“We hope that PAL’s relaunch of flights to Beijing and Shanghai will help fuel a rebound in tourist and business travel. Our goal is to once again operate the largest network of flights on multiple routes between mainland China and the Philippines,” Ng said.

The airline owned by taipan Lucio Tan plans to raise its flight volume to Chinese cities to serve the growing demand for air travel here and in China.

“We are forging ahead with the restoration of PAL’s Greater China flight network, an investment that will strengthen our connection to the economic hubs in mainland China and will help boost bilateral relations between the Filipino and Chinese people,” Ng said.

After returning to Beijing and Shanghai, the flag carrier seeks to reinstate its scheduled services to Jinjiang and Macau in March.

PAL operates three flights per week from Manila to Shanghai until March 25, after which it will fly daily to the financial district of China. On the other hand, PAL will deploy twice a week flights to Beijing until March 24 and will double the frequency starting March 26.

Likewise, the airline will offer flights to Jinjiang on March 19, 22 and 24 and begin operating the route daily from March 26. PAL will reactivate its twice a week flights between Manila and Macau on March 26 as well.

In January, PAL revived its China network by restarting flights to Xiamen and Guangzhou, paving the way for Philippine carriers to fly back to Chinese cities since border restrictions were placed in 2020 to contain the spread of the virus.

Before the pandemic, PAL used to operate at least 34 flights to China every week, servicing the travel demand in Beijing, Guangzhou, Jinjiang, Shanghai and Xiamen.