PIONEERING flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) is selling 108 seats on its Airbus 321-Neo aircraft for a scenic “aerial tour” of key destinations in the Philippines for October 31.
A PAL source said the planned flight’s aim is “whet tourism appetite, and of our course earn much needed revenue.” Like many international carriers, PAL has been incurring immense expenses from parked aircraft with little or no flight revenues coming in.
A flyer obtained by the BusinessMirror from the Dominican Tour & Travel Agency, showed the flights, scheduled to leave at 11 a.m. would take three hours upon departure from Manila. It will then take a scenic route over Legazpi to see the Mayon Volcano, on to Caticlan for Boracay Island, Kalibo, Iloilo (Gigantes Island), Cebu, Tagbilaran (Chocolate Hills), Puerto Princesa, San Vicente (white beach), Busuanga (Coron), then back to Manila.
The flight is packaged with an overnight stay at Conrad Manila in Pasay, with free breakfast for two guests. A spokesperson said, the hotel “has sent a letter [to the Department of Tourism] requesting a certification to operate for staycations, but it’s still being processed.” Conrad Manila is currently accredited as a quarantine hotel for returning overseas Filipino workers and overseas Filipinos.
Full scenic business class seats (12) are priced P28,499 per person excluding taxes. Full scenic economy class seats (64) are priced at P18,499 per pax. Twelve semi-scenic economy class seats (overwing) are available for P14,999 per pax, while 20 cabin experience only seats (overwing) in the economy class are available for P11,099.
For said flight, the middle seats in the aircraft’s economy class will be blocked to conform with social distancing rules. A specially catered lunch will also be served during the flight, and amenity kits distributed to all passengers. A DOT-accredited tour guide will be onboard to talk about the destinations.
Freebies for the flight include a “complimentary” RT-PCR test two days before departure at the PAL medical unit in Pasay, with business class passengers offered a home-service option. Pre-flight activities with light snacks and refreshments along with a complimentary chauffeur service from Conrad Manila to Naia terminal 2 are also included, as well as on the return.
More gas expended
For passengers to be able to take in the scenic views, the aircraft has to fly “a bit above the minimum safe altitude,” said the PAL source, which “varies from area to area. Around 2,000 to 5,000 feet would give great views on a clear day…. Normal cruising altitude can be 26,000 to 40,000 feet, lower in a turboprop.” The source added, “The Neo would be the best, most fuel efficient among the Airbuses.”
A pilot and aviation expert consulted by this paper confirmed that an Airbus jet can safely fly to as low as 5,000 feet for a scenic tour of the islands, “at a cruising speed of 189 kilometers per hour. But they’re going to use up more avgas, double in fact, than what they use when on a normal cruising altitude and speed.”
Airlines such as EVA Air and Qantas Air recently mounted “flights to nowhere,” bringing cooped up citizens on flights around Taiwan and Australia. But Singapore Airlines canceled its planned flight to nowhere after being lashed by environmentalists for expending carbon “for no good reason.”
PAL Holdings Inc. recorded P22 billion in losses in the first half of the year due to Covid-19, a massive six-fold surge from P3 billion loss incurred in the same period in 2019. Flight cancellations which began in March pulled down its revenues by 55 percent to P36.82 billion.
In a statement on October 5, PAL said it is laying off 35 percent of its workforce as “part of a larger restructuring and recovery plan as the flag carrier rebuilds its domestic and international network amid the global pandemic.”
Image credits: Business Mirror file photo