Philippine Airlines has announced the fares for its non-stop London-Manila service, which launches on November 4.
As previously reported by Business Traveller, flights will operate daily (except Tuesday and Friday) with two-class B777-300ERs configured for business and economy.
Business class is configured seven across (2-3-2) with economy class disposed ten across (3-4-3). (See seatplans.com). The latter is not so attractive given the flight length.
Manila-London is listed on oagflights.com as taking 15hrs 25 mins, with London-Manila at 14hrs 30 mins.
PAL says that economy class fares will start at £593 with business class priced from £2,263. These are for tickets which are sold directly by PAL and are booked before November 15.
Travel agents may have different rates. Online agent opodo.co.uk quotes economy fares for travelling in November starting at £583 in economy and £2,091 in business class.
But as Business Traveller has already reported, PAL will find that operating to London will not be like "a walk in the park".
That is because, unlike the last time PAL served Europe in 1998, it faces tougher competition from indirect carriers.
Business Traveller checked flight prices to Manila in mid-November with expedia.co.uk. Indirect carriers like those based in mainland China and the Gulf were price competitive.
Yes, it is true that PAL operates non-stop. But, at the leisure end of the market, not everyone is prepared to pay extra for this convenience. And neither does everyone live within easy reach of London Heathrow, so the Gulf carriers with their regional UK networks will appeal.
When it came to business class, PAL was easily (sometimes by a couple of hundred pounds) undercut by the Gulf airlines.
And will people even know about PAL's non-stop service if they use popular websites like Expedia? The booking tool does not list PAL as an airline with whom it does business.
Let's hope PAL can deliver outstanding service to make this new route a success.
Alex McWhirter
