August 31, 2010 ManilaStandardToday
Philippine Airlines is all set to mount direct flights to India in the first quarter next year in a bid to develop a new tourist market.
PAL president and chief operating officer Jaime Bautista told reporters last week the carrier would launch thrice-weekly flights to New Delhi in March of 2011 using Airbus 330.
“The market for this route is around 50,000 passengers every year,” Bautista said, adding that PAL would skip a stopover in Bangkok as originally planned.
The carrier stopped flying to India in the 1950s but now sees good prospects to bring back the service due to the influx of Indian tourists to Manila and Cebu.
Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim said in a recent interview that the government was tapping the Indian market to add to the growing tourist volume in the Philippines.
He said India, along with Russia, is a potential rich market.
“There is still no significant volume coming from India because there are no direct flights,” Lim said.
Tourist volume from India in the first five months of the year reached 9,911, up 35 percent from 7,339 in the same period last year. The Indian tourists comprise just 0.83 percent of total inbound tourists during the period.
The selection of India as the next potential tourism market comes at the heels of a weak Chinese market following the recent hostage-taking incident in Manila that led to the death of eight Hong Kong nationals.
Hong Kong immediately issued a travel advisory to its residents after the incident.
Meanwhile, budget carrier Cebu Pacific Air is set to launch its maiden Manila-Beijing-Manila flights on Sept. 5.
The carrier’s Beijing flight departs Manila at 7:35 p.m. and arrives in Beijing at 12:05 a.m. The return flight will leave Beijing at 1:00 a.m. and arrive in Manila at 5:30 a.m.
“We are excited to begin our Beijing operations, as it will signify better connectivity for our passengers to the Philippines and the Asia-Pacific region. This seat sale is part of our commitment to offer the lowest possible fares, and more opportunities for convenient connecting flights to the region’s tourist destinations,” said Cebu Pacific vice president for marketing and distribution Candice Iyog.
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