In response to sustained passenger demand as the New Year approaches, Philippine Airlines has announced an expansion of its network to Australia. The Philippine national carrier will add extra flights and deploy larger aircraft on some of its Australian routes between mid-December 2026 and mid-January 2027, the peak travel season.
As with its entire long-haul network, these additional flights will depart from Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Manila, the airline’s hub in the Philippines.
PAL doubles its frequency to Perth:
The Manila–Perth route, which typically operates three flights per week, will see its frequency doubled to six weekly flights during the holiday season. These flights will continue to be operated by Airbus A321neo aircraft.
Richard Nuttall, CEO of Philippine Airlines, stated: “This expansion of our Australian network aims to meet strong demand while connecting more travelers to destinations across our network during the peak travel season. The new seasonal adjustments are designed to meet the needs of Filipino communities in Australia, vacationers, and those visiting family or friends during the year-end holiday season.”
A daily flight to Melbourne:
On the Manila-Melbourne route, PAL is increasing service from five flights per week to a daily service. This expansion will be accompanied by the deployment of the Airbus A330-300, a wide-body, three-class aircraft, in place of the aircraft typically used on certain rotations.
PAL is increasing its capacity to Sydney and Brisbane:
Rather than adding more flights, PAL has chosen to deploy higher-capacity aircraft on certain routes to Sydney (SYD) and Brisbane (BNE). On the Manila–Brisbane route in particular, the airline will replace the A321neo (195 seats) with the A330 (309 seats).