Flag carrier Philippine Airlines has announced its plans to introduce a regular service to Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea.
From October 25, 2015, the national carrier will begin operating the twice-weekly service between Manila and Port Moresby. Services will depart the Philippine capital every Friday and Sunday at 02:10am, arriving into the Papuan capital at 09:20am. The return flights will depart at 10:10am the same day, arriving back into Manila at 13:20am.
All services will be operated using a two-class, 156-seat Airbus A320 aircraft on the five hour and ten minute journey, with 12 seats in business and 144 in economy.
“I am pleased to announce PAL’s newest destination within the Oceania Region. The robust investment climate and the upsurge of business travel to and from Papua New Guinea make it ideal for PAL to open services between Manila and Port Moresby,” said PAL President and Chief Operating Officer Jaime J. Bautista.
The Papua New Guinea Capital is the third international destination opened by the airline this year, following New York on March 15 and Quanzhou in China on April 25.
Philippine Airlines is also planning to launch services to both Cairns in Australia and Auckland in New Zealand on December 2, 2015. Port Moresby will also be the carrier’s 37th international point overall.
The airline has seen an increase in revenue, after it grew 30 percent in the first quarter in 2014, supported by an overall increase in passenger traffic,
The flag carrier said the growth was led by the opening of new international destinations as well as the expansion of its domestic route network, following an enhanced commercial arrangement with PAL Express.
Our analysis of OAG Schedule Analyser data shows that seat availability between Manila and Port Moresby has remained at a relatively steady rate since 2005, with the entire capacity between the two cities operated by Papua New Guinea’s national carrier, Air Niugina.
In 2005, the airline operated just short of 11,000 seats between the Philippine capital and Port Moresby, which had risen to just over 29,000 by 2014 – and 168 percent increase.
Estimated annual passenger demand between the Philippines and Papua New Guinea has steadily increased over the past ten years. In 2005, estimated demand was as little as 4218, which over the past ten years has increased by over 550 percent to 27542.
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