Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) will start its long awaited service to Nagoya on March 1, giving PAL its fifth gateway in Japan and cementing its position as the largest airline operating between the Philippines and Japan.
PAL president Jaime Bautista said the service will operate four times weekly, with departures from Manila (PR 438) every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Arrival at the New Central Japan International Airport, just outside Nagoya, is at 6:30 p.m.
The return flight, PR 437, departs Nagoya every Wednesday, Friday, Sunday and Monday at 9:30 a.m. reaching Manila at 12:30 a.m.
The operating times are especially tailored for the substantial business and tourist traffic that the service targets to carry.
Widebody Airbus A330-300 aircraft, which seats 42 in Mabuhay (business) class and 260 in economy, will be deployed on the premium route.
PAL will be one of the first international carriers to operate from the "Centrair’’ aviation complex, which is scheduled to open to commercial traffic on Feb. 17, just 12 days before the inaugural flight.
The ultra-modern, 24-hour airport is constructed on a man-made island in Ise Bay about 35 kilometers south of Nagoya.
The facility will be the new hub of the booming Central Japan region, the country’s industrial heartland, where hightechnology sectors like automotive, machine tools, electronics and aerospace are based.
The region is also home to many of Japan’s manufacturing giants, including Toyota Motors, Noritake and Narumi.
At such, cargo traffic is expected to provide a further revenue stream for the new service.
Brisk leisure traffic is also projected this year, considering that Aichi prefecture, the geographical district to which Nagoya belongs, is the host of the 2005 World Expo. The sixth-month long event opens the same month as the PAL service.
Robust tourists flows are likewise expected the other way, as Central Japan is among the leading tourist source markets for the Philippines. As a whole, Japan accounted for over 348,000 visitors to the country in the first 11 months of 2004, second only to the United States.
The addition of Nagoya, Japan’s fourth city, gives PAL a presence in the three major metropolitan areas on Honshui Island – Tokyo/Yokohama in the north, Osaka in the south and Nagoya in the center.
It boosts PAL’s total frequencies between the Philippines and Japan to 28 flights weekly, making PAL the largest carrier operating between the two countries.
Tokyo is served daily from Manila and six times a week from Cebu, Osaka is linked five times weekly to Manila. Fukuoka receives six flights a week from Manila, four of which are routed via Okinawa.
Nagoya becomes PAL’s 25th international destination. The airline flies to 19 points in the Philippines. (PNA)
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