Boracay Flights : PAL Express

PAL Express in a Nutshell

PAL Express is the new, low-fares brand of Philippine Airlines. It was launched on May 5, 2008 with a mandate to serve mainly domestic island points and secondary routes throughout the Philippines from hubs in Cebu and Manila. In this way, PAL Express aims to boost trade, tourism and the local economy in outlying island communities.

The introduction of PAL Express is a ground-breaking step for Philippine Airlines, which created a sub-brand for the first time in its 67-year history.

“We will leverage on the strength of the PAL brand to make PAL Express the leader in the markets it serves,” said PAL president Jaime J. Bautista during the brand’s launch. “In turn, PAL benefits from the expansion of its network to areas it does not presently fly to, from where PAL Express aims to draw traffic to feed the trunk routes.”

He added: “But the biggest beneficiary will be the traveler, who is now able to tap into PAL’s extensive route network and enjoy seamless connections between erstwhile inaccessible provincial points and 49 destinations – and counting – across the Philippines, Asia, Australia and North America.”

Fleet

PAL Express will operate an initial fleet of nine turbo-propeller aircraft – three Bombardier Q300s and six Bombardier Q400s – manufactured by Bombardier Aerospace of Canada. Eight of the nine aircraft are already in service with the last scheduled for delivery in a few weeks.

The Q300 and Q400 are part of Bombardier’s “Q Series” of turbo-props – the Q standing for “quiet” due to a patented noise suppression system that reduces cabin noise and vibration levels to less than those of jetliners.

They are equipped with two Pratt & Whitney turbo-prop engines with maximum ranges of 1,819 kilometers for the Q300 and 2,826 kilometers for the Q400.

Both airplanes have outstanding take-off and landing capabilities even on unprepared airstrips, making them the ideal choice for PAL Express’ services to small provincial airfields.

The Q300 cabin is configured with 50 seats at a comfortable 32-inch pitch while the slightly larger Q400 seats 76 passengers at a 30-inch pitch, making for low seat-mile costs that are ultimately passed on to passengers in the form of low fares.

Route Network

PAL Express flies intra-regional routes in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao from hubs in Cebu and Manila, as well as secondary routes to smaller airports in island provinces that are not able to accommodate PAL’s regular jet aircraft.

Services began on May 5, 2008 with eight flights daily between Manila and Caticlan, gateway to the resort island of Boracay.

The operation kicked into high gear on May 19, 2008 with the reopening of PAL’s Cebu hub, now operated by PAL Express. Services between Cebu and five points – Caticlan (Boracay), Bacolod, Tacloban, Butuan and General Santos – were launched.

On the same day, a daily flight between Manila and Busuanga, another resort island in northern Palawan, commenced.

In the coming months, more destinations throughout the country will be added to the network, as PAL Express takes delivery of more turbo-props.

As of September 18, 2008, PAL Express flies a total of 21 routes, 11 from its Cebu hub and 10 from Manila.

Cebu hub

PAL Express bases its turbo-prop fleet mainly in Cebu, in order to better serve the growing intra-regional market in Visayas and Mindanao.

While some flights also operate out of Manila, Cebu is the focal point of turbo-prop operations as PAL re-establishes the city as its main hub in southern Philippines.

PAL operated a bustling Cebu hub for most of its 67-year history, when it was the sole airline mandated to provide air services to far-flung rural communities. As such, turbo-props were an integral part of PAL’s fleet for over five decades.

When PAL entered receivership in 1999, however, its rehabilitation plan stipulated an all-jet fleet, obligating the airline to dispose of its last turbo-prop type, the Fokker 50, and close its Cebu hub.

With PAL’s successful emergence from rehabilitation in September 2007, resuming turbo-prop operations became a key priority, in keeping with the national carrier’s historic mandate of serving outlying areas. In this effort, the restored Cebu hub plays a central role.