September 14, 2024 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) will resume its nonstop flights between Cebu and Osaka in December, just in time for the Christmas surge in air travel.
PAL is reactivating its Cebu flights to Osaka on Dec. 22, marking another expansion in Japan, tourist hotspot and overseas Filipino workers (OFW) market.
Japan is one of the biggest sources of visitors for the Philippines, and the country is also home to more than 300,000 OFWs.
PAL will operate three flights a week between Cebu and Osaka initially, expecting the service to be popular for business and leisure travelers. Moreover, the airline will add an extra weekly trip for the route beginning Feb. 26, 2025 to serve the additional number of passengers.
PAL president and COO Stanley Ng said the carrier would deploy an Airbus A321 for its Cebu connection to Osaka. The aircraft can seat as many as 199 individuals, allowing for higher load and better efficiency.
Ng said the route would be reopened in December to cater to the holiday demand for air travel, pinning his hope on the service to contribute to Cebu’s tourism.
Ng said added tourists from Osaka can use Cebu as their jump-off point to visit domestic destinations like Bacolod, Borongan, Busuanga, Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Caticlan, Clark, Cotabato, Davao, General City, Iloilo, Legazpi, Ozamiz, Puerto Princesa, Siargao, Tacloban and Zamboanga.
“Our direct flights from Mactan to Kansai will help us promote the tourism industry and the local businesses in Cebu and the Visayas, and deepen both bilateral relations and cultural ties with our Japanese counterparts,” Ng said.
The flight also benefits Filipinos from Cebu and, in general, Visayas, as they gain direct access to one of the most cultural cities in Japan. Osaka is home to the former imperial capital of Kyoto, and it is popular for leisure attractions like Dotonbori, Osaka Castle Park and Universal Studios Japan.
With this move, PAL strengthened its grip as the domestic airline that offers the biggest network of Japan flights. Right now, PAL reaches Fukuoka, Haneda, Nagoya and Narita, on top of Osaka.
From Cebu, the carrier also flies to Seoul on a daily basis and to Bangkok thrice a week.
PAL has recently taken steps to further expand its flight coverage overseas, scheduled to mount on Oct. 2 its inaugural flight to Seattle, which marks its sixth destination in the US and eighth in North America.
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