PAL to UK

In lifting the ban, the EU transport commissioner decided that the airlines had shown a “commitment and capacity” to implementing international safety standards in a “sustainable manner”, Reuters reported. This was an important announcement as many carriers had pulled out of direct flights from UK to Manila following arguments about Manila airport costs and services. Of course less planes from Europe means less holidaymakers and does nothing to assist tourism in the Philippines. Not everyone can get on a plane for a few hours like those from Australia. The Philippines really needed to get Europe travelers,but at points in the past greed made it unprofitable for many European carriers to come to the UK. The likes of KLF, Lufthansa, Quantas and British Airways all pulled out of the route.

PAL travels several times a week and although the Economy has no private entertainment systems it does have leg room for us over 5ft 5″.

I flew recently and the number of passengers accounted for less than a third of capacity allowing me to stretch across three seats and sleep and snore like a baby. The question is why are people not filling these flight?

Here are a couple of reviews I have found online.

PR721, London to Manila, 25 October, PR720 Manila to London, 12 November. A340-300 both ways. 2 hours late laving Heathrow but we arrived in Manila on time. The flight was only about 65% full and my son and I were lucky as we had all 4 seats in the middle section to ourselves. Seat recline seemed limited. The A340 is clearly an older plane – no seat back videos but passengers are issued with iPads for the duration of the flight which are pre- loaded with games and films. The staff were friendly and helpful. The catering was fine – 2 full meals and a snack. Getting to Manila non stop is a real selling point for PAL. Return – big plus point is that PAL uses Terminal 2 at NAIA which is a dream compared to Terminal 1. Again half empty flight and I had 4 seats to myself! Again, 2 meals and a snack. Staff were good, no complaints. I was a bit wary before I travelled as I had read some poor reviews of the PAL flight from London and I had always used Emirates / Cathay / Singapore / Thai before. The lack of seatback videos is solved by the iPads. The staff didn’t come round with water that much. So long as the price is right, I would certainly use PAL again.

I flew from Manila to Heathrow on a 777, my return was on an old Airbus A340. To say the airbus was substandard would be an understatement, in an age of carriers using modern up to date planes, this was a great disappointment. London is a prime capital city. To look to increase passengers especially from the west you really have to up your game. There is no personal screen (the replacement was a small iPad to use which meant holding it while viewing it, not easy hour after hour on a long haul flight), my fold down table was broken, the seat was really uncomfortable, the toilets were not kept clean. I have flown China Southern and even this carrier had a better plane. I am not in a position to use business class but still expect a certain amount of service for my ticket money.