“We are not just targeting the Filipino community, but introducing the Philippines to the rest of the world,” said PAL President Capt. Stanley K. Ng at a media briefing in Seattle.
Ng said the direct flight offers them convenience as it cuts down travel to Manila to 14 hours from 20 hours if they take a connecting flight.
The President noted that direct flight offers seamless connection to the Philippines as passengers would have the luxury and convenience of not losing their baggage during transit at a foreign airport.
PAL Vice President for Sales Salvador C. Britanico Jr. confirmed Seattle expansion, saying that while the newly-launched Manila-Seattle route already has a load factor of 80 percent to 90 percent, potential for market growth is there by making Seattle a transit point from Manila and Manila a transit point from Seattle to Asian destinations.
“We have a good partner here, Alaska Air. We also have passengers connecting via American Airlines and as well as Delta. So, Alaska Air, they fly to more than 100 destinations from here. So, it’s good connectivity for us because when you land, immediately you can connect to other parts of the US and even Canada,” he noted.
“From interior US connecting here. And then also, we’ll have passengers that can access Southeast Asia from here. So Seattle to Bangkok (via Manila), since we have good connections. Vietnam, Bangkok, even other parts of Asia.” adds Britanico.
The Pacific Northwest capital is home to 178,300 Filipino migrants according to US Census Bureau in 2017.
“The state of Washington has about 180,000 Filipinos. For the Pacific Northwest, close to 300,000 Filipinos. So, when we launched the flights, many of our passengers actually for the first time in many years also taking trips back to the Philippines, to Manila because it is now more convenient for them.” says Britanico.
Britanico said there is also a huge market among seafarers since there are many cruise ships departing from Seattle.
“So, we also transport a lot of Filipino seafarers and also those taking tours. The Port of Seattle is one of the major gateways for Filipino seafarers. Many of the workers on the big cruise ships are actually Filipinos coming from the Philippines. So that’s one traffic especially during the summer when cruise season starts,” he said.
