Seattle Gains More Long-Haul Flights With This Airline

Philippine Airlines has announced a planned increase to its Manila-Seattle pairing ahead of the winter season, upping from three to five weekly frequencies beginning in November. The carrier cited the importance of its US market and the value of its new partnership with Alaska Airlines, which has its primary hub at Seattle-Tacoma International (SEA).

The Manila-based carrier launched its Seattle route in October 2024, which was and remains the sole direct link between the Philippines and the US Pacific Northwest. It is the airline’s eighth destination in the US and Canada and part of PAL’s long-term investment in developing business and tourism demand between the Philippines and the US.

Philippine Airlines Boosts Seattle Schedule From November

Currently operating flights on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, PAL will add services on Tuesday and Thursday starting November 25 to take it to five weekly roundtrips. According to the carrier, the increase follows a sharp rise in demand for flights to and from the US West Coast,

The announcement comes just a couple of months after launching its partnership with SEA home carrier Alaska Airlines, which has almost a 50% share of the market in Seattle. This agreement built on PAL’s previous partnership with Hawaiian Airlines, which merged with Alaska in late 2024.

Speaking on the Manila-Seattle route increase, PAL President Richard Nuttall commented,

“Our decision to increase frequencies to Seattle highlights the importance of the U.S. market to the Philippine Airlines global network, and in particular the great value of Seattle as a gateway, not just to the Washington and Oregon areas, but to cities across the United States that we can now serve through our ongoing partnership with Alaska Airlines.”

Inside PAL’s US Network

Upon Seattle’s launch last October, it became PAL’s sixth US destination and its eighth to US/Canada airports. Four of its US destinations are part of the continental United States, supplemented by services to Hawaii’s Honolulu and to Guam. It also serves both Toronto and Vancouver, the two busiest airports in Canada.

PAL has a long and storied history of serving the US dating back to 1946. It became the first Asian airline to fly to the US that year before launching its first scheduled service – a connection between Manila and San Francisco – with a DC-4. One of its more recent milestones was transitioning its Manila-New York JFK connection to a nonstop service, setting a new record for its longest flight.

The airline also said its frequency increase would bring about a significant boost in cargo capacity, adding up to 40 tons per week between Manila and Seattle.

Related

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Prepares To Welcome Philippine Airlines’ New Service From Manila

Flights are set to commence on October 2nd.

Up To 13 Hours With Boeing 777-300ER

PAL uses its Boeing 777-300ER fleet to fly to Seattle – these aircraft can seat up to 370 passengers, with 42 seats in business and 328 in economy. The business cabin is laid out in a 2-3-2 configuration with lie-flat seats, while the economy cabin features a 3-4-3 configuration with a generous seat pitch of 33″.

PAL has a fleet of ten Boeing 777-300ERs with a fairly youthful average age of 11.5 years old. It inducted its first -300ER in 2009 and recently leased another two airframes in 2024, both formerly flying under Garuda Indonesia. From late November, the carrier’s Manila-Seattle service will run every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday on the following timings.

The airline also operates two other widebody models from Airbus, namely the A330-300 and A350-900 – it will also be a future operator of the stretched A350-1000 with up to nine aircraft set to join. These will become PAL’s new flagship long-haul aircraft, featuring 42 sliding-door business suites and a 24-seat premium economy cabin, with the first delivery scheduled for the end of 2025.

IATA Code

SEA

City

Seattle

State/Province/Region

Washington