Travel Agents Scramble for Flights to RP

Philippine Daily Inquirer
Thursday, September 24, 1998
BUSINESS

SINGAPORE - Travel agents said Wednesday they were scrambling to find seats for clients from Singapore to Manila with the closure of Philippine Airlines as the peak Christmas season approaches.

PAL is one of only two airlines with daily direct flights between Manila and Singapore. The other is Singapore Airlines, whose regional subsidiary, Silk Air, also flies to the southern Philippine cities of Cebu and Davao.

"I would think that a lot of employers of Filipino maids are calling travel agents to change their bookings" from PAL, said Alex Leow, Manager for Spring Travel Pte. Ltd.

"They were acting on news that Philippine Airlines would be closing," he said.

Before its closure, PAL was favored here by many employers of Filipino maids because of its cheaper air fares, Leow said.

There are an estimated 100,000 Filipinos in Singapore, most of them working as domestic helpers.

During the Christmas season when many Filipinos working overseas fly home, return air fares on economy class charged by PAL would be around S$600 (US$375), compared to Singapore Airlines' more than S$700 fare.

Other agents said seats on Singapore Airlines for this Christmas season were already hard to come by and flights on that carrier to Manila were already overbooked, adding they were looking at other alternatives such as flying to Manila via Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur.

A last-ditch survival plan to save the airline was rejected by the PAL union, paving the way for the closure of the 57-year-old flag carrier at midnight Wednesday.

One Singapore agent who asked not to he named said that since Sunday, all bookings made on PAL were "automatically cancelled" from their computers, as the beleaguered airline announced it may be closing.

In Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific Corporate Communications Manager Quince Chong said it was "closely monitoring developments" concerning Philippine Airlines.

"At the present moment, seating capacity should be quite adequate,” she said, adding that a decision whether to increase fares would depend on demand.

Cathay will increase its flights to Manila to 35 a week over the Christmas season from 32 at present, she said.