PAL’s return to Guam to boost new markets

GUAM – Philippine Airlines renewed an old historical bond while eyeing new markets when it reopened a regular service between Manila and Guam on June 21, 2002.

PAL’s return to the US Pacific territory after nine years fulfills a longstanding commitment to its core ethnic Filipino market in Guam and positions the flag carrier to tap into the flourishing tourist and labor traffic to the island.

"We are always keen to grow our markets in the regional arena and Guam, with its rising tourism-based economy, presents us a major opportunity to do so," said PAL president Avelino L. Zapanta.

"Our customers in Guam, especially the large Filipino community, have long clamored for our return. We are excited to be back and serve them."

The service will operate three times a week, with departures from Manila every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 10 p.m. Arrival at Guam’s Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport is at 4:10 a.m. the following day.

The return flight departs Guam every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 6:40 a.m., arriving in Manila at 8:50 a.m.

PAL will field new-generation Airbus A320-200 aircraft, which seat 12 in Mabuhay (business) class and 138 economy, for the four-hour-and-ten-minute journey.

Guam becomes PAL’s fourth destination in the US (after Los Angeles, San Francisco and Honolulu) and 21st overall.

Located 1,500 miles east of Manila in the Western Pacific, Guam shares strong historical, cultural and religious affinity with the Philippines. About a quarter of the territory’s 155,000 residents are of Filipino origin and they comprise a potent political and economic force.

In recent years, the Guam economy, anchored on the tourism industry, has picked up. The islanddraws over one million visitors a year, mainly from Japan and Korea but also including about 10,000 Filipinos, who are attracted to Guam’s status as a duty-free port and the closest American outpost to the country.

On the other hand, an increasing number of Guam residents, including native Chamorros, regularly visit the Philippines for pilgrimage, medical and educational purposes.

The improving economy has also created a demand for skilled Filipino labor, particularly in the hotel, construction and medical services sectors, and bolstered two-way trade.

PAL will aim to capture these traffic streams, said Zapanta. "The Guam market has become much more diverse and competitive since we were last here. But PAL’s return will benefit travelers in that they will now have a choice of carrier for the first time in nine years."

Guam occupies a special place in PAL’s history. At the end of World War II, the US military chartered the newly reopened airline to fly servicemen home.

On July 31, 1946, a PAL Douglas DC-4 transport plane took off from Manila bound for Oakland, California with the first batch of 40 soldiers on board.

The plane stopped first in Guam, then in Wake, Kwajalein and Honolulu as it hopscotched across the Pacific, landing in Oakland 41 hours later. That epic voyage earned for PAL the distinction of being the first Asian airline to cross the Pacific.

It was another 45 years before the flag carrier returned to Guam. On March 8, 1991, PAL began a weekly service to the territory using widebody McDonnell Douglas DC-10 tri-jet. The service was extended to the neighboring island of Saipan in September 1992.

But operational difficulties forced the suspension of the Micronesia operations in October 1993.

On June 21, PAL will be picking up where it left off nine years ago, this time with a more focused agenda.

"The reopening of our Guam service carries with it bright prospects but we are approaching this conservatively," said Zapanta. "We want to build on our strengths and develop our presence according to the dictates of the marketplace."