MANILA, Philippines -- Starting November 30, 2012, Philippine Airlines flies non-stop to Toronto giving the flag carrier a direct link to Canada’s largest city and its first gateway on the vital East Coast of North America in 15 years.
PAL President Ramon Ang said the launch of the new 17-hour route, which will be served by the new Boeing 777-300ER, was timed for the peak Christmas travel season.
“We are always keen on developing new markets and Toronto, with its diverse population, booming economy and status as one of the world’s top financial centers, presents us a major opportunity to do so,” Ang said, adding it was also in response to the clamor of the large Filipino community in eastern Canada.
Toronto becomes PAL’s 27th international, and 46th overall, destination.
About 250,000 or 4.1% of greater Toronto’s 6.05 million residents are of Filipino origin, the largest concentration of Filipinos in Canada and a natural base market for PAL.
Filipino-Canadians are among the largest visitor groups to the Philippines, accounting for over 117, 400 arrivals in 2011, and are on pace to surpass that record this year.
For the first eight months of 2012, there were 81,093 balikbayan arrivals from Canada.
The opening of the new route will see a revamp of PAL’s Canadian operations.
Beginning November 30, Manila-Vancouver flights, currently daily, will be cut to four times weekly, alternating with the thrice-weekly Manila-Toronto service.
But Vancouver-Manila flights will continue to be a daily service with the flight back from Toronto making a stopover.
The Manila-Toronto service (PR 118) will leave Manila every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday at 3 p.m., arriving at Terminal 3 of Toronto Pearson International Airport at 5 p.m. on the same days.
The return flight (PR 119) flies out of Toronto at 7:35 p.m. on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, stopping in Vancouver at 9:30 p.m. and continuing on to Manila at 11:30 p.m., where it will arrive at Terminal 2 of Ninoy Aquino International Airport at 5:45 a.m. two calendar days later.
The newly acquired long-range Boeing 777-300ER can accommodate 42 passengers in Mabuhay Class (business) and 328 in Fiesta Class (economy).
Article Source: Eric B. Apolonio, InterAksyon.com
