PAL readies Guangzhou-Subic charter

Philippine Airlines will begin a weekly charter operation connecting the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou with Subic Bay and Manila on May 3, 2002, opening a new route aimed at the booming Chinese leisure traffic.

The charter, operated in partnership with Subic-based Legend International Resorts and Casinos, will run every Friday with the routing Manila-Guangzhou-Subic-Manila.

PR 338 departs Manila at 4 p.m. and arrives at Guangzhou’s Baiyun International Airport at 6:20 p.m.

The return service, PR 339, departs Guangzhou at 7:20 p.m. and touches down at Subic Bay International Airport at 9:30 p.m. The extension flight to Manila, PR 223, leaves Subic at 10:15 p.m. and arrives 30 minutes later.

PAL will deploy Boeing 737-300 aircraft, configured in a 148-seater monoclass layout, on the route.

In recent years, Subic Bay has emerged as a popular destination for visitors from nearby regional points, particularly southern China, who are lured by the gaming tables well-preserved ecology and duty-free shops of the former US naval base.

The PAL service is designed to cater to the growing leisure market out of Guangzhou, one of China’s most vibrant cities.

The capital of Guangdong province forms one nexus, along with Hong Kong and Macau, of the Pearl River Delta region, a major economic powerhouse.

Guangzhou becomes PAL’s fourth gateway in China. The airline operates scheduled services between Manila and Shanghai (five times weekly), and Manila and Xiamen (four times weekly), as well as a weekly charter flight between Cebu and Shenzhen.

PAL will be returning to Guangzhou after an absence of 17 years. The flag carrier first flew to the southern port city, then known as Canton, on Aug. 1, 1979 as a regular stop on the pioneering service between Manila and Beijing.

That service earned for PAL the distinction of being the first Asian Airline to fly to the Forbidden City.

Guangzhou was dropped from the PAL network in April 1985 when Xiamen replaced it as the designated stop on the Manila-Beijing route.