Flag Carrier Calls It “Aspirational Pricing for the Modern Traveler”

Philippine Airlines Announces New Route: Manila to Manila via Hong Kong

Flag Carrier Calls It “Aspirational Pricing for the Modern Traveler”

Philippine Airlines unveiled its most ambitious domestic route yet: a Manila-to-Manila service connecting NAIA Terminal 1 to NAIA Terminal 3, with a two-hour layover in Hong Kong. The round-trip fare starts at PHP 34,500. “Travel is about the journey,” said PAL president Fernando Alcazar-Magtibay, in a press statement containing the phrase “world-class experience” four times. The flight departs Terminal 1 at 6 AM, flies to Hong Kong, and returns to Terminal 3 by early afternoon. PAL notes that the intra-NAIA Skyway transfer takes approximately the same time as the Hong Kong leg, thus “balancing the experience.” The airline is offering a Business Class upgrade for an additional PHP 12,000, which includes a hot towel, a choice of meal, and a laminated thank-you card signed by nobody specific. Budget airline Cebu Pacific responded by announcing its own Manila-to-Manila route, direct, with a base fare of PHP 499, no assigned seats, and a boarding process the airline describes as “collaborative.” NAIA officials confirmed both routes were approved and noted that the airport, consistently ranked among the world’s most chaotic, is “flattered by the attention.” A travel blogger who paid full price for the PAL service described it as “a deeply Filipino experience,” specifically the part where the flight was delayed four hours and everyone was served Sky Flakes.

SOURCE: Bohiney News.