PAL expands Canadian horizons

Philippine Airlines has been cleared to mount more flights to Canada after the Civil Aeronautics Board approved its request for an additional seven weekly flights. The national flag carrier currently operates 7 weekly flights to Canada serving the destinations of Vancouver and Toronto.
According to Wyrlou Samodio, Head of the Legal Division at the Civil Aeronautics Board, the application for Philippine Airlines to add seven weekly flights to Canada was approved last week, according to Interaksyon.
Philippine Airlines is presently flying to Vancouver daily, with three flights per week that continue on to Toronto. The carrier has expressed the desire to increase flights to Canada due to the rising number of Filipino-Canadians that are visiting the Philippines, and the growing number of Filipinos moving to Canada.
In addition, following the restoration of Category 1 status by the US Federal Aviation Administration, Philippine Airlines expressed interest in serving destinations on the US East Coast including New York, Florida, and Chicago. It is believed that these destinations will not be served non-stop, but rather via Canada. The decision by the Civil Aeronautics Board now enables Philippine Airlines to move forward with its plans of not only expanding flights to Canada, but also pursuing further expansion in the United States.
Meanwhile, Samodio added that the Civil Aeronautics Board has designated Cebu Pacific as an official Philippine carrier to Canada, though no frequencies have been allocated. According to Jorenz Tanada of Cebu Pacific, the Filipino community in Canada has grown significantly in the last ten years.
"We have as yet no frequency allocations to Canada, even as we got designated as an official carrier," said Tanada. "But we look forward to offering Cebu Pacific's low cost services to Filipinos in Canada and their families back home."
Cebu Pacific currently utilises its 436-seat Airbus A330-300 aircraft for long-haul flights. However, the aircraft does not have the ability to serve destinations in North America non-stop from the Philippines. The carrier would need to acquire additional long haul aircraft before any possible flights to Canada could begin. For now, Cebu Pacific is concentrated on the upcoming launch of its two latest long-haul destinations due to take-off next month to Kuwait, and Sydney, Australia.
According to the Canadian Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration, Canada issued more than 47,000 visitor visas to Filipinos in 2013. That is in addition to the nearly 30,000 Filipinos that became permanent residents of Canada, making the Philippines Canada's third-highest source country for immigrants. It is believed that as many as 650,000 Canadian residents currently trace their ancestry to the Philippines.
Last May, Canada and the Philippines agreed to an amended air services agreement that would see the flight entitlements between the two countries increase from seven to fourteen flights per week. The agreement was last amended in December 2008. Visitation from Canada to the Philippines continues to rise with visitor arrivals growing by 12.5 percent to 28,506 in the first two months of 2014. Philippine Airlines is presently the only carrier flying direct between the Philippines and Canada.