Philippine Airlines has just revealed plans to expand its service to the United States, with flights to a new gateway…
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Philippine Airlines plans Chicago flights as of summer 2026
Philippine Airlines has filed with the Department of Transportation (DOT), requesting permission to launch regularly scheduled service between Manila (MNL) and Chicago (ORD). At 8,132 miles, this will be an ultra long haul flight, probably around the 25th longest flight in the world.
The airline is requesting expedited approval, as it hopes to launch this service during the summer 2026 IATA traffic season (which runs from late March through late October), and wants to put tickets on sale ASAP. Getting approval for this route shouldn’t be an issue.
The service is consistent with the air service agreement between the Philippine and the United States, which authorizes carriers of the Philippines to operate scheduled flights “from the Philippines via intermediate points to Honolulu, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Guam, Saipan, and four additional points in the United States to be selected by the Government of the Philippines.” So Chicago would be one of those “four additional points.”
I’ll be sure to provide an update once this route is official, with the schedule published and tickets on sale.
How Chicago fits into Philippine Airlines’ route network
For context, currently Philippine Airlines’ destinations in the United States include Guam (GUM), Honolulu (HNL), Los Angeles (LAX), New York (JFK), Saipan (SPN), San Francisco (SFO), and Seattle (SEA). Seattle is the newest gateway, with that route having launched in late 2024.
Philippine Airlines has been through quite the transformation in recent years. In 2021, the airline filed for bankruptcy protection, and significantly shrunk its fleet, given the impacts of the pandemic. Then in 2023, the airline placed an order for nine Airbus A350-1000s, just shortly after dumping some of its existing Airbus A350-900s. Those planes are now joining the fleet, so I imagine that growth is what enables new routes like this one.
Philippine Airlines doesn’t belong to any major global alliance. Instead, the airline (obviously) serves the local market in the Philippines, but also often has attractive fares across the Pacific, for those connecting to elsewhere.
In terms of the size of the Filipino population, Chicago ranks seventh(ish) among US cities, after Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Honolulu, San Diego, and Las Vegas. As you can see, the top four cities are all served by the airline. Meanwhile the airline used to fly to Las Vegas as a tag flight from the Vancouver service, but that doesn’t operate anymore.
Bottom line
Philippine Airlines intends to launch nonstop flights between Manila and Chicago in the coming months. The airline has requested permission for this service from the DOT, with hopes of the flight starting as of this summer.
This would complement the existing US mainland destinations of Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle, and it seems like a logical enough place for the airline to expand to. With the new A350-1000s that the airline is acquiring, there’s also a bit more room to grow.
What do you make of Philippine Airlines adding Chicago flights?
They used to serve Chicago in the 80s with 747s, Newark in the late-90s with wet-leased MD-11s, and Las Vegas with A343s with a stop in Vancouver (and full fifth-freedom rights) that lasted almost a decade.
Chicago does make sense with the large Filipino diaspora in Chicago area. They're also looking to serve Houston once they launch Chicago and have enough aircraft. While San Diego does have a sizeable if not significant Filipino population,...
They used to serve Chicago in the 80s with 747s, Newark in the late-90s with wet-leased MD-11s, and Las Vegas with A343s with a stop in Vancouver (and full fifth-freedom rights) that lasted almost a decade.
Chicago does make sense with the large Filipino diaspora in Chicago area. They're also looking to serve Houston once they launch Chicago and have enough aircraft. While San Diego does have a sizeable if not significant Filipino population, I find it too small for non-stop service. I see Las Vegas returning first. And this is where a smaller sized aircraft such as a 789 would be perfect as the A359 would still be considered too big for some markets.
Personally, I find the A359 to be redundant in their fleet especially since they only have 2. What they need is a 789. While smaller, it has plenty of range. It has the right capacity, just like the A343s they used to have, but more efficient.
There's no way to redeem points for PAL sadly afaik. I thought for a while AS was going to enable it via Atmos, but that seems to have never materialized.
Now all that need to do is fix the abhorrent transit experience at MNL...
I do it almost monthly and it's really not that bad.....though a subway is under construction that will save the 20 minutes of messing around.
They're planning to move all full service carriers including PR to Terminal 3, while LCCs like Cebu and AirAsia move to Terminal 1.
It's about time they utilize the terminal to its full potential and for its intended purpose.
When it first opened 2008, Cebu was the only carrier to operate from the terminal hence they were expand to the size they are now. And ANA became the first foreign carrier 3 years later.
Just to let you know that's me above.
I had a brain fart not putting in my regular handle for some reason.
I have to do a better job proofreading before I post!
Lol! Let’s make Chicago a bit more third world!
Is that even possible?
Implying that the Philippines is their world?
Would not say that as I sit on a beautiful beach with turquoise water watching a beautiful sunset at a five star hotel drinking from a fresh coconut.
MAGAts need to be castrated publicly.