Philippine Airlines will be adding service to another gateway in the United States, to an airport that seems to be booming with transpacific service at the moment…
In this post:
Philippine Airlines launching Seattle flights in October 2024
As of October 2, 2024, Philippine Airlines will add 3x weekly nonstop flights between Manila (MNL) and Seattle (SEA). The route will operate with the following schedule on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays:
PR124 Manila to Seattle departing 10:40PM arriving 7:15PM
PR125 Seattle to Manila departing 11:40PM arriving 4:45AM (+2 days)
The 6,661-mile flight is blocked at 11hr35min eastbound and 14hr5min westbound. Philippine Airlines will use a Boeing 777-300ER for the route, featuring a total of 370 seats. This is comprised of 42 business class seats (in a 2-3-2 configuration) and 328 economy class seats (in a 3-4-3 configuration).
This will be Philippine Airlines’ sixth destination in the US, as the airline also flies to Guam (GUM), Honolulu (HNL), Los Angeles (LAX), New York (JFK), and San Francisco (SFO). The airline serves an additional two destinations in North America, and also flies to Toronto (YYZ) and Vancouver (YVR).
Some context on Philippine Airlines’ new route
Philippine Airlines adding service to Seattle has been in the works for a long time. Initially the airline announced plans for this route back in January 2020, with an expected launch date of May 2020. Given the pandemic, the route was put on hold, as you’d expect. So it’s nice to see it return, though over four years late.
It’s interesting to see how the airline has weathered the pandemic. In 2021, the airline filed for bankruptcy protection, and significantly shrunk its fleet. Then in 2023, the airline placed an order for nine Airbus A350-1000s, just shortly after dumping some of its existing Airbus A350-900s. So the airline seems to have the goal of growing again soon.
Philippine Airlines certainly won’t have any issues filling these flights, the question is just if the yields can be halfway decent. The airline promotes how the state of Washington has the fourth largest Filipino population in the United States, how Seattle is a high-tech business hub and thriving port city, and how this will add 60 tons of cargo capacity every week between the two cities.
I’m curious to see if Philippine Airlines establishes any partnerships in Seattle, presumably with Alaska Airlines. Some connectivity could help this service, and Alaska Airlines is usually happy to work with airlines outside of the oneworld alliance.
Seattle has been booming with Asia flights over the years, which isn’t surprising, given the city’s geography, population, and business. This year is especially impressive for transpacific growth, when you consider that China Airlines, Delta, and Starlux, are all launching flights between Seattle and Taipei. Now there’s another player across the Pacific.
Bottom line
As of October 2024, Philippine Airlines is adding a 3x weekly flight between Manila and Seattle with a Boeing 777. This was initially supposed to launch in 2020, but has been delayed due to the pandemic.
It’s nice to see Philippine Airlines expanding again, though the 777 isn’t exactly a great passenger experience. I’m looking forward to seeing what the carrier’s new A350s are like.
What do you make of Philippine Airlines adding Seattle flights?
Problem is the 2-3-2 configuration. For that they should be offering it cheaply.... I prefer the 1-2-1 setup.
Filipino here who flies mostly domestic within the country. I consider PAL the 'least evil' among all the available domestic carriers. Thus, I choose to fly with them whenever I have a choice. That does not mean I love them, I just prefer them over Cebu Pacific which I vow to never ride again because the latter is a total piece of sh**.
When it comes to short haul international, PAL loves to utilize A321's...
Filipino here who flies mostly domestic within the country. I consider PAL the 'least evil' among all the available domestic carriers. Thus, I choose to fly with them whenever I have a choice. That does not mean I love them, I just prefer them over Cebu Pacific which I vow to never ride again because the latter is a total piece of sh**.
When it comes to short haul international, PAL loves to utilize A321's which are very cramped and uncomfortable in economy (I am 180 cm btw, but even shorter people have issues). I'd avoid them whenever I can. Widebodies have pretty decent economy seats. Their onboard meals leave something to be desired though. I fly to Japan around twice a year, but nowadays JAL and ANA have similar pricing or even cheaper, so it's obvious which one I'd choose
Great news. I remember this launched shortly before COVID with an A359 but got cancelled by it. The new Manila airport can’t come soon enough. In the meantime, I think PAL should focus on reconfiguring their route network to have more routes from Cebu instead of Manila, especially if most of their passengers are connecting anyways, so less of them have to deal with the disaster that is NAIA. For instance, they could change their...
Great news. I remember this launched shortly before COVID with an A359 but got cancelled by it. The new Manila airport can’t come soon enough. In the meantime, I think PAL should focus on reconfiguring their route network to have more routes from Cebu instead of Manila, especially if most of their passengers are connecting anyways, so less of them have to deal with the disaster that is NAIA. For instance, they could change their current daily SFO-MNL to 4x weekly SFO-MNL and 3x weekly SFO-CEB.
Gross food all over the country, bad airports, and awful congested uncultured cities. People are very friendly and well-intentioned (mostly) but inefficient and subservient, leading to a culture lacking the initiative and assertiveness to make the country anything more than what it has been for a century: a haven of tax cheating nepo families and odious church leaders who keep the vast majority of the population below the poverty line for their own greed. Disappointing.
Gross food all over the country, bad airports, and awful congested uncultured cities. People are very friendly and well-intentioned (mostly) but inefficient and subservient, leading to a culture lacking the initiative and assertiveness to make the country anything more than what it has been for a century: a haven of tax cheating nepo families and odious church leaders who keep the vast majority of the population below the poverty line for their own greed. Disappointing.
Every word true. Give Spain the credit. All countries that Spain ruled (portugal included) are so messed up. Mexico, Central America, Caribbean, Philippines. Even the southern US border, formerly Spanish ruled, from California to Florida is filled with states more messed up than most.
PAL has the nicest flight crew compared to the old bags of UA. Glad UA said a couple of years ago they are an all Boeing airline. LOL
Mostly Philippino ships Crew.
Feels like Deja vu seeing this post every few years. Maybe since it’s only 3x a week they will use the Garuda 777 which has 1-2-1 business class. A boy can dream
Transferring terminals in Manila Airport is a nightmare sometimes. A transfer bus comes infrequently and then takes 30 minutes to drive between terminals. You have to actually through city streets in Manila to go between terminals, which are often clogged with traffic.
PAL isn't too bad imo. I fly them often between PHL and THA, and occasionally longer distances and they're perfectly fine. Usually, their price points out of MNL are competitive. NAIA is just the absolute dog's breakfast of an airport, though. And Manila itself as a destination or a place to live/work is one of the worst cities in Asia in a large bucket of categories. Does anyone remember the security guards placing bullets in...
PAL isn't too bad imo. I fly them often between PHL and THA, and occasionally longer distances and they're perfectly fine. Usually, their price points out of MNL are competitive. NAIA is just the absolute dog's breakfast of an airport, though. And Manila itself as a destination or a place to live/work is one of the worst cities in Asia in a large bucket of categories. Does anyone remember the security guards placing bullets in people's suitcases so they could bribe them for money? Rampant theft, bribery and extortion cases are the norm. Avoid.
I was hoping they'd fly the a350. I think there is demand since friends normally fly via Tokyo or Taipei or Seoul when flying to MNL from SEA.
They only have 2 which are needed for JFK and YYZ. But I agree they need something small.
Global entry is always fast and the new customs hall is beautiful.
Picking up where Delta has left off. It's amazing that Delta has never brought back Manila or done anything to fly its own metal to Asia beyond Seoul, China and Tokyo.
They still have their slots and I would've thought they would've been the one to launch SEA with PRs ongoing issues. However I can only see LAX at this point. If they do launch SEA themselves, it'll probably timed in the morning similar to UAs non-stop to SFO, but I don't see that happening at least anytime soon.
Very unfair distortion of the facts.
Delta has literally just launched a new TPE route. And it's revisionist to say they've not done anything else in the past. There was a point in time where Delta was flying to many tier 2 airports in Japan outside of Tokyo, KIX, NGO, and FUK to say the least, as well as HKG. The pandemic created an untimely breakpoint for them and many other airlines.
I don't see...
Very unfair distortion of the facts.
Delta has literally just launched a new TPE route. And it's revisionist to say they've not done anything else in the past. There was a point in time where Delta was flying to many tier 2 airports in Japan outside of Tokyo, KIX, NGO, and FUK to say the least, as well as HKG. The pandemic created an untimely breakpoint for them and many other airlines.
I don't see why only Delta gets all the flack, when AA has completely floundered its own TPAC routes, especially with that disaster at SEA.
and to add, DL planned pre-covid to operate ICN-MNL because S. Korean airlines are or were at the limits of what they can fly between ICN and MNL. US carriers are not subject to those limitations.
Now that KE is in the final phase of its merger with OZ, neither KE or DL are adding any routes that directly compete with OZ.
Since OZ does fly ICN-MNL, it is possible that KE will eventually...
and to add, DL planned pre-covid to operate ICN-MNL because S. Korean airlines are or were at the limits of what they can fly between ICN and MNL. US carriers are not subject to those limitations.
Now that KE is in the final phase of its merger with OZ, neither KE or DL are adding any routes that directly compete with OZ.
Since OZ does fly ICN-MNL, it is possible that KE will eventually gain some MNL rights, DL might or might not choose to serve MNL on its own metal.
DL is on the verge of receiving the first of 16 of the most capable and longest range A350-900s and converting the 9 ex-Latam A350s to standard DL international configuration (making them available for use to Asia) and then will receive 20 A350-1000s. DL also has the last 12 of its A330NEO orders coming although some will be used to retire some 767s.
DL has enormous international growth capacity coming within the next 5 years and will expand, most likely from the eastern US where DL is strongest and also where the A350 has advantages over the B787.
Still, DL is growing both LAX and SEA and will put some of those growth aircraft on west coast to Asia routes.
Anybody that has watched the industry and Delta for any length of time knows that DL never moves at the speed or using the strategies the internet expects.
No, the pandemic did not cause Delta to end routes in Asia. Delta mostly pulled out of Asia between 2015 and 2017. First, Delta hoped for China Eastern. And then, yeah, that never happened. Then they double-downed on Korean in Seoul.
I have repeatedly said that the NRT hub pulldown happened before covid but the last round of cuts - including to China - happened during covid.
No US airline has restored all of the pre-covid capacity it had to China
and DL is not only committed to growth at ICN and will do so after a decision about the KE/OZ merger but is still adding flights to cities other than ICN as demonstrated by...
I have repeatedly said that the NRT hub pulldown happened before covid but the last round of cuts - including to China - happened during covid.
No US airline has restored all of the pre-covid capacity it had to China
and DL is not only committed to growth at ICN and will do so after a decision about the KE/OZ merger but is still adding flights to cities other than ICN as demonstrated by SEA-TPE. There will be more re-additions of DL metal service to east and south Asia.
arguing about the past won't change what will happen in the future which is a flip of the script
and for those that forget, DL said during the pandemic that it expected that international growth would return to levels that would be profitable in 2024. demand returned earlier but DL's fleet plan was and is built upon a 2024 return of demand - which is why DL will lead the US airlines in new widebody capacity in 2023 and 2024. hard to know what Boeing will do for AA and UA in 2025 but the A350-1000s will start arriving in 2026 and will be not only more capable but also considerably larger than the 787.
Unless UA decides to order the A350-1000 for delivery in the late 2020s, DL will lead US carriers in international growth potential for the rest of the decade
But it quite literally did though? A simple example was SEA-KIX was set to resume the summer of the pandemic in 2020, but hasn't been brought back as a result.
Why the re-writing of history?
not sure who you are referring to but NW served NGO and KIX from DTW; DL also served KIX from SEA (I think DL briefly served KIX from DTW).
When you see significant changes in flights to a specific country, then you have to ask if there isn't something else at play.
And if you google the JPY to USD conversion rate, you will see that the Yen significantly devalued relative to the...
not sure who you are referring to but NW served NGO and KIX from DTW; DL also served KIX from SEA (I think DL briefly served KIX from DTW).
When you see significant changes in flights to a specific country, then you have to ask if there isn't something else at play.
And if you google the JPY to USD conversion rate, you will see that the Yen significantly devalued relative to the dollar during the pandemic and hasn't recovered.
There is ample data showing that travel from Japan to the US is down more than any other country in E. Asia except China and capacity btween the US and China is being limited by the Chinese government.
the other market which DL served from SEA but doesn't serve now is HKG. Nobody is ignorant of the changes that have taken place in Hong Kong.
People put together a few facts and draw conclusions which aren't at all connected to the facts.
DL will grow from LAX and SEA to E. Asia. They never said that they intended to serve MNL from the mainland.
PR has service to multiple cities in the US. This addition of SEA is for them.
btw, there are other cities like DXB that have service on another carrier from SEA even though SEA is a DL hub.
I'm replying to FNT Delta Diamond, who seemingly likes to make broad sweeping statements that are blatantly untrue with basis in reality.
that is par for the course on social media but he/she does it about other things as well.
he/she simply can't accept that DL does not have to be just like other airlines and still be successful.
And specific to Asia/Pacific, DL's growth has been limited by the retirement of the 777s and DL's decision to start receiving enough new widebodies (mostly A350s) to return to growth and rebuilding mode until 2024.
...
that is par for the course on social media but he/she does it about other things as well.
he/she simply can't accept that DL does not have to be just like other airlines and still be successful.
And specific to Asia/Pacific, DL's growth has been limited by the retirement of the 777s and DL's decision to start receiving enough new widebodies (mostly A350s) to return to growth and rebuilding mode until 2024.
The first A350s received this year will be to correct payload restrictions on DL's most operationally challenging routes and also to increase cargo carrying capacity. DL will grow significantly in 2025 including with the ex-Latam A350s that will become available for growth along with the older original DL A350s that can still operate less operationally challenging and "shorter" routes - but are not and never can be replacements for the 777LRs while the newest A350s will be capable of doing what the LRs did and more.
Also upgaged YVR as well
The transit experience at MNL is rapaciously bad and should not be tolerated by anyone.
They should fly to Cebu, which they did pre Covid from LAX. Mactan airport is very efficient, a very pleasant international terminal and terminal 1 was entirely renovated.
New flights from the Philippines, Taiwan... All is perhaps hunky-dory for SEA as an international destination on the surface, but I am just wondering about its passenger immigration handling management. I don't know if it was an exception to the rule, or a systemic failure, but the lack of border agents to process a couple of incoming flights in an efficient manner one fairly recent Sunday morning was disconcerting... I know it's a separate Fed...
New flights from the Philippines, Taiwan... All is perhaps hunky-dory for SEA as an international destination on the surface, but I am just wondering about its passenger immigration handling management. I don't know if it was an exception to the rule, or a systemic failure, but the lack of border agents to process a couple of incoming flights in an efficient manner one fairly recent Sunday morning was disconcerting... I know it's a separate Fed agency. However, it should be managed in such a way as to create an overall seamless experience from the arrival at the gate to the moment the passenger steps out of the terminal or boards a connection
In my experience, it was very typical government process, where there are tons of agents sitting on their asses not doing any work.
There theoretically are plenty of passport control lanes, I just don't know that they're ever properly staffed because I see a bunch of agents slacking off in the back.
One of the worst airlines in the world (and, I would argue, one of the worst airports in the world, i.e. NAIA).
Even worser than FNJ?
FNJs new terminal is actually nice compared to MNL. And worst is subjective. They're poor when it comes to the ground experience, IT, and consistency. They really need to invest in their product.
Might be worth noting in the context - this had been delayed because of the dispute with United over MNL slots... which was recently resolved.
? Did UA get more landing slots in MNL?
They want more than 1?
They had one. They wanted a second one, and were blocking PR expanding in the US for the last 2ish years over it. They recently got what they wanted, and viola.
SEA is really booming with TPAC flights.
SEA will see another TPAC flight by Air Premia, a South Korean LCC, later this year or next year.
Korean Air is in the process of acquiring Asiana and to skirt the monopoly issue, they'll give some slots to Air Premia.
Too bad AA is doing nothing in the West Coast.. AA should have tried harder to make SEA their TPAC hub.
Philippine Airlines has two plays here. There's certainly enough demand for MNL. But I've noticed they have impressively low fares for connecting traffic as well. They're definitely trying to fish for additional demand to places like Southeast Asia or even Oceania.
Interesting that SEA is becoming an actual TPAC player, even without many of the routes coming from Delta.
Atleast AUS routes are using A330s.
Nice 1-2-1 biz seating on the A330.
My brother lives there but Philippine Airlines fares to US are extremely expensive that I might still choose other Asian airlines.