Philippine Airlines to Launch Manila-Cairns-Auckland Flights

Philippine Airlines has confirmed that it will launch flights from Manila to Cairns, Australia, and Auckland, New Zealand beginning 1 December 2015.

PAL will operate four flights weekly (Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays) to serve the Manila-Cairns-Auckland route, utilizing the 156-seater Airbus A320.

"The route will stimulate passenger traffic along three travel streams - Manila and Cairns, Manila and Auckland as well as Cairns and Auckland ... With close to 40,000 Filipinos residing in New Zealand, the new service is their convenient link to their home country," said PAL President and Chief Operating Officer, Jaime J. Bautista. "Upon arrival in Manila, passengers may enjoy the capital city for a few days then connect to any of the 67 other destinations (30 domestic and 37 international) in the PAL network. In the long term, the service will drive traffic between Southeast Asia and New Zealand."

The six-hour flight to Cairns - PAL's fifth Australian destination - will depart Manila at 23:45 (MNL time) arriving in Australia at 08:00 (local time) the following day. The one-hour stopover allows PAL to pick up passengers from Cairns for the continuing journey to Auckland. Arrival in New Zealand is at 16:00 (local time).

Flights from Auckland depart on the same days at 18:30 (local time), arriving Cairns at 22:30 (local time). After a brief stopover, flights depart from Cairns, arriving Manila at 03:30 (MNL time), the following day.