Philippines

Israeli carrier Arkia Airlines will launch direct flights between Tel Aviv and Manila from 3 Jan 2027, becoming the first Israeli carrier to fly the route directly in many years, Israel's Ambassador to the Philippines announced. The service will initially operate once weekly using a wide-body Airbus A330. One-way fares will start at $750 USD for economy and $1,800 USD for business class. Filipinos can enter Israel visa-free for stays of up to 90 days for tourism or pilgrimage

Philippine Airlines (PAL) and the Tourism Authority of Thailand launched a joint campaign offering up to 20% off flights to Bangkok, targeting Filipinos seeking short overseas breaks combining food, shopping, culture and festivities. The discounted fares are available for bookings from 7-13 Sep, for travel from 13 Sep onwards

Philippine Airlines (PAL) and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) launched a joint campaign offering up to 20% off flights to Bangkok, targeting Filipinos seeking short overseas breaks combining food, shopping, culture and festivities. The discounted fares are available for bookings from 7-13 Sep, for travel from 13 Sep onwards

Philippine Airlines (PAL) launched PALkada Deals, a domestic seat sale running from 7-13 Sep, offering 15% off domestic base fares for 2 travellers booked together, rising to 35% for 3 and 55% for 5, for travel from 1 Oct. The tiered discounts cover PAL's 29 domestic destinations, with leisure markets including Siargao, Cebu, Boracay, Bacolod and Iloilo highlighted for group travellers

The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) reported air passenger statistics for H1 2026: • 15.27 million international passengers for H1 2026, with international airlines carrying 51.5% or about 7.9 million passengers and local airlines carrying 48.5% or 7.4 million passengers • Cebu Pacific and its subsidiary CebGo carried 10.01 million domestic passengers (57.6% of the total). Cebu Pacific alone carried 9.03 million domestic passengers and 3.41 million international passengers. CebGo carried 976,005 domestic passengers • Cebu Pacific also ranked as the top Philippine carrier and 5th in Asia-Pacific for on-time performance in Apr 2026, with an 84.98% on-time arrival rate across more than 12,000 flights, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium • Philippine Airlines carried 3.39 million international passengers and 2.31 million domestic passengers, while its subsidiary PAL Express carried 20,234 international and 4.26 million domestic passengers • Philippines AirAsia carried 584,476 international and 2.3 million domestic passengers • AirSWIFT Transport and Sunlight Express Airways carried 176,335 and 92,846 domestic passengers, respectively • Royal Air Charter Services carried 301 international passengers

Philippine Airlines (PAL) expanded its FurPAL program to allow small cats to join dogs in the cabin on all domestic flights, for a one-way fee starting at 2,500 PHP per pet

Mactan-Cebu International Airport's (MCIA) “CEB Connects” facility has processed more than 500,000 passenger transfers, a 48% increase since its Apr 2025 launch, as more airlines joined the self-transfer service. The facility recorded an average utilisation rate of 73% across domestic and international transfers. Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific began offering international-to-domestic transfers in Apr 2025 and domestic-to-international transfers in Jun 2026. Singapore Airlines, AirAsia Philippines, China Airlines and Emirates have also activated both transfer services. Minimum connection times for the service are 35 minutes for domestic flights and 60 minutes for international connections

Philippine Airlines took delivery of its fourth Airbus A350-1000, out of the 9 ordered in 2023

Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) has partnered with Trip.com to encourage both domestic and international outbound and inbound travel via Cebu. MCIA and Trip.com secured exclusive partnerships with major airline partners such as Philippine Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Vietnam Airlines, China Airlines, Starlux Airlines, EVA Air, Scoot, Jetstar, Korean Air, and United Airlines

AirAsia MOVE secured IATA accreditation in the Philippines, with around 30 international airlines serving Philippine routes granting it ticketing authority within the first few weeks. The accreditation follows its membership this year of the Philippine Travel Agencies Association and the Philippine Tour Operators Association

The House of Representatives on 2 Sep approved a final bill reading extending the Philippine Airlines’ (PAL) franchise to operate the airline for another 50 years

Cebu Pacific will resume its international service from Iloilo to Bangkok Don Mueang and to Singapore, both starting 23 Nov with 3X weekly flights

Cebu Pacific is expecting its capacity growth to reach 35.19 million, +10% YoY in 2026. Cebu Pacific’s seat capacity as of Jul 2026 increased to 20.49 million, +9% YoY, while passenger volume increased to 16.72 million, +4% YoY. Cebu Pacific will launch flights to Shanghai and Nagoya from Cebu, and to Xiamen from Manila in Nov 2026

AirAsia Philippines recorded a 44% increase in seats sold from May to Jul 2026, and is expected to sustain growth momentum in Q4 2026. However, the airline said geopolitical concerns and fuel prices have become unpredictable due to the lack of a long-term peace agreement in Iran. AirAsia Philippines trusts the domestic market, especially with 2 major holidays - Undas in Nov and Christmas in Dec

Philippine Airlines (PAL) will launch 3X weekly flights on its Manila-Chicago route from 9 Nov. The airline offered a $517 USD all-in round-trip economy fare until 31 Aug

Philippine Airlines will increase its Manila-Melbourne flight frequency to daily flights from 19 Nov, a 40% increase from the current 5X weekly flights. With this, PAL will offer 24X weekly flights to Australia. PAL will also mark the 55th anniversary of its Melbourne route on 10 Sep. PAL launched its first flight to the city in 1971

New NAIA Infrastructure Corp. (NNIC), the operator of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, has cancelled its plan to renovate Terminal 4, to focus on the construction of Terminal 5 on the former site of the Philippine Village Hotel. A private source told The Star newspaper that Terminal 4 will be repurposed to park aircraft. Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) said they are yet to receive any confirmation from NNIC on their revisions to their original plans for Terminal 4

The Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) has attained an Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA) Level 2 - Reduction certification, making it the only airport in the Philippines with the recognition

Riyadh Air will reduce its planned Riyadh-Manila flights from daily to 4X weekly starting 9 Sep, and will resume daily flights from 30 Sep using a Boeing 787-9

A Philippine Air Force flight scheduled to fly out about 100 tourists and local travellers from Batanes on 25 Aug was postponed due to high winds. The tourists were stranded on the island following the southwest monsoon and typhoons. Those stranded will be evacuated once the weather allows flights to resume

The New NAIA Infra Corp. (NNIC) and Philippine Airlines (PAL) signed an airport use agreement (AUA) to improve operational efficiency and align airline operations with the service levels of NNIC

The Department of Transportation is carrying out airport terminal expansions in Laoag (2 billion PHP), Caticlan (2.5 billion PHP), and Siargao (95.2 million PHP). The Laoag airport upgrade by DOTr and the Civil Aviation Authority is nearly 50% complete

TransNusa had filed for regulatory approval with the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) to operate scheduled international flights to and from the Philippines on 29 Jul. The CAB scheduled TransNusa’s petition on 22 Sep

Philippine Airlines has requested CAB’s approval to resume flights to India. In Jun 2026, the airline submitted a separate petition to CAB to launch flight services to India under the Philippines-India Air Services Agreement, which allows 28X weekly flights. The CAB heard PAL’s petition on 15 Jul, but neither the regulator nor the airline announced the outcome of it

The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) has reported that the parent company of IndiGo has applied for the issuance of a foreign air carrier’s permit to operate flights to the Philippines. A hearing will be held on 16 Sep to decide whether or not to grant the permit. The Department of Tourism has reported that IndiGo is said to be interested in operating nonstop flights from India to Manila and Cebu

Philippine Airlines plans to increase its Manila-Seoul Incheon flights from 14X weekly to 17X starting 27 Oct 2026, except for selected periods in Dec 2026

The Court of Appeals has ruled that the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) is not obliged to pay 386 million PHP in damages for the cancelled Panglao Airport project in Bohol. The MIAA’s former lead agency, the Department of Transportation and Communications (currently the Department of Transportation), cancelled the Panglao Airport project and replaced it with the New Bohol Airport Development project, which was implemented by the DOTr with funding support from the Japan International Cooperation Agency. The project was completed in Nov 2018

Philippine Airlines will resume its Manila-Dubai route from 2 Oct 2026 using a 370-seater Boeing 777-300ER, brought forward from its initial resumption date of 25 Oct 2026 using a 359- or 363-seater Airbus A330-300. Further changes to the service resumption remain possible. PAL will reduce the service to 6X weekly from 10-18 Feb 2027 and 5X weekly from 19-28 Feb 2027

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines reported that 13 flights were affected on 17 Aug due to the southwest monsoon. CAAP added that 8 flights were diverted to other airports, 3 were marked as missed approaches, and 2 had to make go-around attempts

Philippine Airlines (PAL) and Visa will offer an exclusive online campaign for the MAMA Awards 2026, giving eligible PAL international customers the chance to experience the event in Osaka, Japan. The raffle campaign will be held from 14-25 Sep, for qualified bookings made through PAL’s website or app

PAL Holdings, the operator of Philippine Airlines (PAL), reported an attributable 6.12 billion PHP net loss in Q2 2026, compared with a 3.33 billion PHP net income in Q2 2025.; PAL's Q2 2026 revenue increased to 51.38 billion PHP, +10.8% YoY, from 46.39 billion PHP in Q2 2025; Total expenses increased to 55.73 billion PHP, +31.6% YoY, from 42.36 billion PHP in Q2 2025; Flying operations expenses increased to 35.29 billion PHP, +68.3% YoY, from 20.97 billion PHP; Financing charges increased to 2.19 billion PHP, +49% YoY, from 1.47 billion PHP; Maintenance expenses were 6.53 billion PHP, while aircraft and traffic servicing costs dropped to 5.36 billion PHP from 5.59 billion PHP; Passenger revenue increased to 43.42 billion PHP, +8.7% YoY; cargo revenue to 3.35 billion PHP, +47.9% YoY; ancillary revenue to 4.53 billion PHP, +9% YoY; In H1 2026, attributable net loss reached 1.84 billion PHP, vs 7.66 billion PHP net income in H1 2025; H1 2026 revenue increased by 11.2% to 103.81 billion PHP; Passenger revenue increased to 88.27 billion PHP, +9.7% YoY; Cargo revenue increased to 5.91 billion PHP, +37% YoY; Ancillary revenue increased by 11.2% to 9.46 billion PHP; Fuel costs increased by 56.3% YoY to 14.65 billion PHP in H1 2026, with average fuel price at $150.02/barrel, +49.7% YoY; PAL carried 8.2 million passengers, -3.1% YoY; load factor dropped by 2.77pp to 78.87%; passenger yield increased by 9.2% on fare hikes; Available seat kilometres increased to 22.81 billion, +0.4%, while the number of round-trip flights increased by 0.2%; PAL President pointed out that fuel costs increased due to the Middle East conflict and called it "the key variable" for H2 2026 and international demand held up better than domestic

The Transportation Secretary and Tourism Secretary held a bilateral meeting to discuss infrastructure projects to improve regional connectivity and boost international and domestic tourism. The Transportation Secretary provided updates on several maritime and aviation projects, including Siargao Airport, Benoni Port in Camiguin Island and Jubang Port in Surigao del Norte. He also provided updates on passenger terminal upgrades and runway extension projects at Busuanga, Tacloban, Aklan, Tuguegarao, Siargao, Bukidnon and Laoag airports

Cebu Pacific will reopen its international flights from Davao from late Oct, with 3-weekly flights to Bangkok Don Mueang from 26 Oct, and 4-weekly flights to Hong Kong

The Philippines and Turkiye held the Philippines-Türkiye Air Consultation Talks in Istanbul on 13 Aug. Under the new agreement, weekly flights on the Manila-Istanbul route will increase from 7X weekly to 14X. The Acting Transportation Secretary said the agreement also allows unlimited frequencies for secondary destinations such as Cebu, Davao, and Clark. He added this will allow competition among airlines and offer more affordable fares for Turkiye, Europe, and Middle East-bound passengers. He also requested a special airfare discount for overseas Filipino workers travelling to Turkiye