PAL suspends Brisbane flights

By Paolo Montecillo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 22:32:00 10/14/2010

MANILA, Philippines—Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) will stop flying to Brisbane, Australia, by the end of October, just seven months after adding the route to its international network.

The company also announced the reduction in its flights to Melbourne due to weak demand.

Flights to Brisbane, which started in March, will be indefinitely suspended starting Oct. 31, while flights to Melbourne will be cut to three times a week from the current five.

However, flights to Sydney—one of PAL’s most popular destinations—will remain at five times a week, the company said.

PAL spokesperson Cielo Villaluna said the adjustments were being made due to “marketing considerations.”

“Market conditions and the onset of the lean season necessitated some changes in the number of destinations and frequency of flights the flag carrier mounts to Australia,” she said.

The airline was able to mount flights to Brisbane due to the delivery of a brand-new Boeing 777 aircraft last year.

Brisbane is the third most popular tourist destination in Australia, next to Sydney and Melbourne. It is renowned for its rich culture, architecture and landscape, and is famous for its stature as a world city.

PAL earlier reported a profit of more than $30 million from April to June, the first quarter of the company’s fiscal year.

This year, PAL expects to post a modest profit, ending two consecutive years in the red and mitigating losses of around P15 billion.

These losses were caused by a combination of bad hedging decisions during the 2008 fuel crisis and the drop in demand during 2009’s global recession.

In a separate statement, PAL said it would implement stricter requirements for passengers planning to fly to the US, to comply with recent rules released by the Department of Homeland Security.

Starting Oct. 15, US-bound passengers will be asked to give their complete name (as reflected in the passport), date of birth, gender, nationality, passport number, visa number and address at destination in the US.