PAL ‘on track’ to fully restore pre-pandemic domestic flights

Philippine Airlines said on Wednesday that it is adding more domestic and international flights this month and is on track to get back to the number of domestic flights it had before the pandemic. “We are on track to full restoration of pre-pandemic domestic flights. As to the full restoration of international flights, this will depend on the reopening of specific markets. So potentially, we should be back to 2019 levels — except for China market — by end of the year,” PAL Spokesperson Cielo C. Villaluna said. On PAL’s flights in the first three months of the year, she said, “It was a slow and gradual increase as far as regular commercial flights are concerned. But domestic and international repatriation flights, bayanihan flights, vaccine cargo flights, all cargo charters never stopped.” The airline saw “revenge travel” kick in by March, the start of the summer season. PAL reached 40% of pre-pandemic daily frequencies in the fourth quarter of 2021, Ms. Villaluna noted. She said prior to the pandemic, PAL was operating an average of 300 flight legs daily or domestic and international inbound and outbound flights daily. “Today, we have restored 80% of our pre-pandemic number of domestic flights and 60% of our pre-pandemic number of international flights. To be specific, 80% of our average 170 domestic flight legs daily and 60% of our average 130 international flight legs daily.”<br/>