Summary
- The capital of the Philippines welcomes new international carriers, Greater Bay Airlines and Batik Air, raising the total number of international airlines at MNL to 42.
- Greater Bay Airlines operates five weekly services from Hong Kong, departing late in the evening and arriving in Manila early in the morning.
- Batik Air, a full-service carrier, will also begin serving Manila daily from Kuala Lumpur, with flights operating during the nighttime.
The capital of the Philippines has just welcomed its latest new international carrier, Greater Bay Airlines, launching its direct route from Hong Kong. As Batik Air is set to join the pack and launch its direct service from Kuala Lumpur to Manila this December, things won’t slow down. Warmly welcomed, these new carriers will raise the current international carriers at MNL to 42, serving up to 57 global destinations.
Hello, Greater Bay Airlines
The five weekly services from Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) will serve Manila with a very late evening departure. HB231 will push back from Hong Kong at 23:50 and touch down in the early hours of 02:00 at Manila. The return service will depart at the eye-watering time of 03:00 before landing in Hong Kong at 05:10 the same day. The block time is around one hour and 45 minutes, served by one of the airline’s Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
Greater Bay, which operated its inaugural flight from Hong Kong on November 8th, departed just a fraction behind schedule at 00:09 (November 9th) before making up time en route and touching down at Ninoy Aquino International Airport around 01:48 this morning.
Batik Air is enroute
The following new carrier in town will be the ever-expanding, full-service carrier, Batik Air. The Malaysian carrier will also look to make the most of its aircraft capabilities during the darkness of night, set to serve Manila daily from KL. Launching on December 1st, OD510 will depart Kuala Lumpur at 23:50 before making the route across the South China Sea with its Boeing 737-8, touching down at MNL by 02:50.
Photo: Adelaide Airport
After just an hour on the ground, OD511 will return to base, pushing back from Ninoy Aquino International Airport at 03:50 and arriving in time for breakfast in Kuala Lumpur at 07:35 the same day. The new service firmly ranks Manila Airport among the top six international Asian mega hubs.
Batik Air won’t be resting on its laurels for long, with another new service set to commence November 10th, launching a direct flight between Bali Denpasar (DPS) and South Australia’s Adelaide International Airport (ADL), having already established a direct KL service in July this year.
Manila airport is bursting at the seams
The capital’s airport is already bursting at the seams, surpassing its 35 million passenger capacity. However, this didn’t stop welcoming American carrier United Airlines’ direct service from San Francisco (SFO) last month. Cebu Pacific will launch a new service direct to Da Nang International Airport (DAD), Vietnam, from December 7th. Jetstar Asia will resume services to Osaka Kansai (KIX) from November 24th and Royal Air Philippines to Taipei from January 16th.
Photo: Airbus
Vietnam Airlines will resume services to Manila after an absence of two decades. Services to Ho Chi Minh City from December 1st and Hanoi on December 2nd, having last served the SGN to MNL route in 2001.
Are you excited about these new routes? Let us know in the comments.
Sources: ABS-CBN News