PAL to start a new intra-island budget airline
- Thread starter pakman
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pakman
Contributor
Wow, PAL must really think the domestic market is going to boom soon...considering that they seem to be dragging their feet on returning to a category 1 status with the FAA. They were set to increase their trans-pacific service to the US (CEB - LAX int. specifically), but they were dropped to a category 2 status by the FAA because they failed to meet FAA safety criteria back in January, and subsequently cannot increase their number of flights into the U.S. until they return to a category 1 status (they are maxed now at 33 flights per week). I guess I should mention that PAL did pass their IATA operational audit last year, so their planes aren't exactly falling apart...not yet at least.
But now that I think about it...if they get their act together soon with the FAA, and manage to get PAL express off the ground when they expect to this summer, 2009 could be a very good year for PAL (especially with 6 more Boeing 777's on arrival for them starting early next year). Revamping Mactan as an international AND domestic HUB for PAL will pretty much set PAL apart from any other international carrier, putting them at the top of the list of any business traveler or tourist looking for a one-stop-shop ticket to "wherever you want to go in PI".
Of course, this little bit of insight is coming from someone who just purchased a flight to Mactan for this coming May with Korean Air (yes, the same international carrier who had the absolute worst incident track record resulting in passenger/crew/and ground civilian death during the 80s - 90s) I actually made this decision based on the recent downgrade of PAL's status with the FAA. I guess you could call it a choice between dancing with the devil you know, and dancing with the devil you don't. Also, flying out of S. Korea doesn't leave you with many options. Oh well. Hopefully, ill be diving this summer...maybe i'll pack my dive gear in my carry-on, just incase the plane does go down.
But now that I think about it...if they get their act together soon with the FAA, and manage to get PAL express off the ground when they expect to this summer, 2009 could be a very good year for PAL (especially with 6 more Boeing 777's on arrival for them starting early next year). Revamping Mactan as an international AND domestic HUB for PAL will pretty much set PAL apart from any other international carrier, putting them at the top of the list of any business traveler or tourist looking for a one-stop-shop ticket to "wherever you want to go in PI".
Of course, this little bit of insight is coming from someone who just purchased a flight to Mactan for this coming May with Korean Air (yes, the same international carrier who had the absolute worst incident track record resulting in passenger/crew/and ground civilian death during the 80s - 90s) I actually made this decision based on the recent downgrade of PAL's status with the FAA. I guess you could call it a choice between dancing with the devil you know, and dancing with the devil you don't. Also, flying out of S. Korea doesn't leave you with many options. Oh well. Hopefully, ill be diving this summer...maybe i'll pack my dive gear in my carry-on, just incase the plane does go down.
jigo
Contributor
i thought it was the Philippine airports that got downgraded and not PAL? but all flights emanating from Philippine airports had to bear that stigma. that was supposed to be why they scrapped the air transport office and replaced it with a new bureaucracy.
Unfortunately, this guard at the Cebu Pacific check in counter was on a power trip at Tagbilaran airport. He tried to lift my carry-on luggage and found that it was a tad heavy and asked me to put some of my other stuff in my checked-in luggage.I told him that the guys in Manila don't seem to mind, he said "they're just too busy".
rhadamantus
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they use an ordinary looking backpack and pretend the stuff aint heavy....
So clothes and dive gear in the checked luggage and camera gear/regulators in the carry on?
PAL downgrade info can be found here The Manila Times Internet Edition | TOP STORIES > Downgrade to hurt economy
I would assume that the other international carriers would benefit from this, considering that the FAA and other US officials are strongly recommending that passengers looking to fly the trans-pacific route from the US to PI should fly with another carrier. But to be honest, I am not too sure who else flies to PI as often as they do. I'll definitely have to check that out since I'll be flying to the US in September from Mactan int.
jigo
Contributor
Is says: "The downgrading of the Philippine aviation standards " will affect PAL's plans for adding flights to the US.
yea...actually, I couldn't find the article that I had read which only talked about how PAL was downgraded (it was a US news outlet, I forget which one) Any ways, it wasn't until I read the Manila Times article that I realized it was the entire network of PI carriers.
But does anyone know if there are any other international carriers that fly routinely to the US out of Mactan-CEB?
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