Philippine Airlines launching direct LAX-Cebu flights March 16

Philippine Airlines has announced it will be launching direct flights to Los Angeles from Cebu starting from March 15, 2016. The new service is aimed at boosting tourism and business prospects in the Negros island Region. The direct flights are also likely to benefit local businesses as well in Visayas and Mindanao regions. The cities include Cebu, Iloilo and Tacloban in the Visayas region, and Davao, Butuan and Cagayan in Mindanao region.

The flights between Los Angeles and Cebu will be operated thrice weekly with the help of a 4-engine Airbus A340 aircraft configured in two classes – Business Class and Economy Class. The customers traveling in business class cabin will be offered 36 seats, while those booking flight tickets in economy class would be offered a total of 218 seats. Philippine Airlines is presently offering 11 weekly flights services between Los Angeles and Manila.

A spokesperson of Philippine Airlines while providing details about flight schedule said that the flights would depart from Cebu at 6.25 pm and reach Los Angeles at 5.55 pm local time. The return flight would make its departure from Los Angeles at 8.40 pm local time on same day and arrive in Cebu at 4.40 am local time. The three times weekly flights would be operated on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Harry Inoferio, Philippine Airlines’ Sales Head, said, “Philippine Airlines and the Department of Tourism have always considered the Visayas region and Cebu as strong hubs for increasing business opportunities and developing tourism.”

Meanwhile, media reports recently said that Philippine Airlines has decided to purchase six wide-body Airbus A350-900 aircrafts and is on verge of finalizing the deal and make public. The aircrafts are being acquired for launching new long-haul routes in Europe and United States.

Philippine Airlines and its budget subsidiary together own an impressive fleet of 60 Airbus aircrafts, six Boeing aircrafts and nine Bombardier aircrafts. Philippine Airlines is presently the second largest carrier in Philippines. The airline said that it wants to purchase more aircrafts for launching flights on lucrative international routes to cope up with the growing demand from millions of Filipinos working in different parts of the world.