Advantages of direct Manila to Seattle flight, says Philippine Airlines

SEATTLE, USA – Filipino-American entrepreneur Leila Rosas has been running the successful Oriental Mart Filipino Restaurant in the city’s iconic and historic Pike Place Market for 55 years. 

Rosas has been going back home to the Philippines every February or March, and stays there for two weeks to taste new flavors and what her country of origin has to offer. 

But for the first time in her 60 years as a Seattle resident, Leila can now go back home to her hometown Bulacan in the Philippines via a direct flight from Seattle to Manila and vice versa through the Philippines’ flag carrier airline, Philippine Airlines (PAL).

Many Filipinos working and living in Seattle and surrounds, just like Leila, are excited for the launch of this new route, said PAL Vice President for Sales Salvador Britanico Jr., because they finally can visit the Philippines for the first time in many years – especially during important holidays like Christmas.

Since the new route had its inaugural flight last October 2, PAL now flies from Manila to Seattle and vice versa three times a week, every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

The recently launched Manila-Seattle route is now PAL’s sixth destination in the US, making PAL the Philippine airline carrier with the biggest network in the US, said Britanico.

Why Seattle?

Captain Stanley Ng, PAL President and Chief Operating Officer, told Philstar.com and other media outlets in a group interview in Westin, Seattle that they had studies before to open new flights to Chicago, Las Vegas and other states with a high Filipino population. But they chose Seattle as their new destination not only because it has many Filipinos.

“So, just some notes on why we decided to fly to Seattle. It's one of the biggest unserved markets for us. Of course, in the US, we already fly LA (Los Angeles) twice a day, San Francisco daily on the East Coast. We fly to New York three times a week. And then of course, in Honolulu, we also fly five or six times a week. So technically, this is our fifth destination in mainland US, sixth if we include the Guam,” Britanico told the media in a separate group interview.

In the Pacific Northwest, which includes Seattle and parts of Canada, PAL also flies to daily to Vancouver and thrice a week to Toronto.

“When you look at it from an airline perspective, of course, we one of the indicators is the big Filipino community here (in Seattle). In the state of Washington, there's an estimate of about 180,000 Filipinos. In the whole of North America, there's about 4.1 million Filipinos. According to the census, about 40% would be in California; 1.6 (million or) about 350,000 will be in Honolulu. Then after, what follows is Texas, about 200,000; Nevada, which includes Las Vegas, about 160,000. Then you'll have the State of Washington, about 160,000 to 180,000. Then you have Florida and Illinois as well,” Britanico explained.

There is not only a “a substantial critical mass of Filipinos” in Seattle, he said; but more importantly, Filipinos are well-respected in the city.

“So first things first, massive Filipino community, well-respected here. In fact, one of the things we also noticed is they are on the food scene here in Seattle – a lot of prominent Filipino chefs and also leaders in the community are politicians in the counties and also in the state government.”

Another consideration for opening a route to Seattle is the opportunity for business traffic, said Britanico. 

“They have a lot of multinational companies here with global presence now. In Seattle or in the state of Washington, you have Microsoft, Amazon, Boeing here… Starbucks, of course, is also here. You'll have the chance to go to the first Starbucks store in the world, in Pike Street… There are cruises from here. We also transport a lot of Filipino seafarers and also those taking tours. So the port of Seattle is one of the major gateways for Filipino seafarers.”

According to him, many big cruise ships dock in Seattle, and many workers on these cruise ships are actually Filipinos coming from the Philippines. 

“So that's one traffic, especially during the summer, when the cruise season starts.”

Less chance for a jetlag and ‘sleepless in Seattle’

Since one can save time and energy in a direct flight as opposed to having to walk and wait for a long time with a connecting flight, the passenger can have ample rest and save energy and as such, prevent or lessen the incidence of experiencing a jetlag, said Britanico. 

“Even at the airport, employees at the airport, all of a sudden, they’re considering because it's much easier going from here to Manila, it's about 13 hours and normally without this flight, it will take them close to 20 hours using other airlines. But with this direct flight, it's faster, it's more convenient for Filipinos to get here,” he added.

“In fact, we met with the Filipino community the other day, everyone was so happy about it,” noted Ng. “Before, it will take them about 20 hours to get to the Philippines. Now it's 14 hours and they're there.”

According to him, PAL is known for its caring flight attendants, so passengers would be less-stressed and more rested during their journey.

“A direct flight… is also fine for busy people that don't want to do the layovers and spending a whole day just traveling, This is such, plus the Filipino touch, of course, of the Philippine Airlines is a big factor…”

More economical

According to Britanico, among PAL’s biggest competition in Seattle are one-stop carriers from Taiwan and South Korea, so among PAL’s challenges to be able to compete is to be competitive in pricing its flights. 

“What really allows us to get the following is really the convenience of not having to stop, to make an extra stop,” he said, pointing out that among the conveniences of a non-stop flight is having to save on extra connecting flights and other expenses that may be incurred while waiting for a connection.

“And of course, the convenience of like the risk of losing your baggage, the transit and all those things… it is really (about) making it more seamless and the hustle of a transit is different now, so that will really stimulate the growth (of the direct flight demand),” said Ng.

Easier access to Canada, surrounds

“So, just a little background about Seattle. Of course, it's the biggest city here in the Pacific Northwest. When you say Pacific Northwest, it's a few other states that includes Oregon. It also includes Alaska. Then it also somehow includes part of Canada, British Columbia and a few other states, Idaho,” said Britanico.

“If you look at it, one of the things that we also take a look at from an airline perspective is also the connectivity. So for example, in (one of the first Manila-Seattle flights), we had several passengers connecting from Seattle. We have passengers connecting to Las Vegas… Alaska passengers connecting to Alaska again, Portland and also other cities. So Miami, there were a handful of passengers connecting also from Seattle,” he expounded.

PAL has a good network for connectivity with other airlines in Seattle, he noted.

“We have a good partner here, Alaska Air. We also have passengers connecting by American Airlines and as well as Delta. Alaska Air, they fly 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. So for example, Toronto, on certain days, we don't have flights, you can access Toronto from here, and then vice versa.”

Boost better tourism between Manila-Seattle, surrounds

The new route is expected to foster faster, better and easier arts, cultural and tourism exchange between Southeast Asia and the West.

“We'll have passengers that can access Southeast Asia from here. So Seattle to Bangkok, we have good connections. Vietnam, Bangkok, even other parts of Asia, even China, we have good connections from here,” Britanico explained.

The new route would hopefully not only attract new tourists, but also new investors for the Philippines.

“So we take a look at it not only from a point-to-point perspective… But we also take a look at it from the opportunity, present and future of connectivity,” said Britanico.

“So as Manila also becomes a hub, a bigger hub, then we'll also be able to attract different kinds of market segments to travel through Manila using Seattle as a gateway… the critical mass of Filipino traffic and then all these other opportunity, business, labor… We can bring tourists, even non-Filipino tourists, to the Philippines by these gateways and from the Philippines beyond also to Southeast Asia,” he added.

“Kahit ‘yung mga taga rito, we want them to go to the Philippines not just for the tourist attractions, but because there's so much more we can share in terms of food, culture, arts and beaches," said Ng.

“It’s not just targeting the Filipino community, but it's also introducing the Philippines to the rest of the world."

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