MANILA, Philippines - China Eastern Airlines is set to mount direct flights to Shanghai from Manila next month to cope with the growing traffic between the Philippines and China.
Channe Chen, general manager of the Manila office of China Eastern, told The STAR Wednesday evening that the direct flights to Shanghai from Manila via the Ninoy Aquino International Airport terminal 1 (NAIA1) would start on Oct. 18.
Chen said the airline has been given the green light by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) to mount the daily direct flights to Shanghai.
She pointed out that the airline would be using Airbus A320 aircraft for the daily flights.
Chen said passenger from the Philippines could use Shanghai as a transit points to major cities in Europe, US, Japan, Korea, Australia, and the Asia Pacific region.
She added that the airline flies to Hong Kong, Taipei, Seoul, Tokyo, Bangkok and Singapore as well as London, Paris, New York, Los Angeles, Sydney, and Melbourne.
Likewise, she said China Eastern also flies to other cities in China such as Beijing, Kunming, Xian, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Qingdao, ShenZhen, Taiyuan, and Chong Qin from Shanghai.
For his part, Tourism undersecretary Daniel Corpus said the decision of China Eastern to mount flights between Manila and Shanghai would address the growing traffic between the Philippines and China.
Corpus said the volume of passengers between the Philippines and China jumped 48 percent to about 250,000 in the first seven months of the year or equaling the number of Chinese tourists that visited the country in 2012.