Philippine Airlines to start flights to Bali this month

MANILA, Philippines—Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) will start flights to Bali on April 28, reestablishing direct air links between Manila and Indonesia’s prime holiday destination.

The flights to Bali will be the first new route to be added by the Lucio Tan-led airline.

“With the new service, passengers can look forward to experiencing full-service, hassle-free trip to Bali for their vacation,” PAL president Jaime J. Bautista said.

PAL said it would use the Airbus A320 aircraft for the new route that would operate twice weekly, departing Manila every Wednesday and Saturday evening. Arrival at Denpasar International Airport—Bali’s provincial capital—is at 1:25 a.m. the following day.

To mark the launch of the Bali flights, PAL is offering a promo fare of only $188 for every round-trip economy ticket. Business class tickets have also been slashed to $988.

The promo fares are exclusive of government taxes, fees and surcharges. The discounted tickets are on sale from April 1 to 30 and may be used from April 28 to Sept. 30.

Bali is PAL’s second destination in Indonesia, following Jakarta, the country’s capital, where the flag carrier flies five times a week direct from Manila and four times a week via Singapore.

Bali will be PAL’s 26th destination in its international route network. PAL, the only local airline that offers business class seats, flies to 20 domestic stations using an all-jet fleet.

PAL earlier said it continued to lose money in the third quarter of its fiscal year as it struggled with disruptions in operations due to labor issues, exacerbated by the continued rise in fuel prices.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said total revenue dropped 3.8 percent year-on-year to $386 million in October to December—the third quarter of its current fiscal year ending March 31, 2012.

This led to a net loss of $33 million for the three-month period, a reversal from the $15.1 million profit the company posted a year earlier.

“PAL experienced weak passenger demand as well as declining cargo markets as the world economy struggled to recover,” PAL said.