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Philippine Airlines stops Manila-Cairns-Auckland link

Filipino flight finished

Philippine Airlines are to ground their Manila to Auckland via Cairns return service from December 6, two years after the Far North welcomed the Asian carrier. The decision means the city will no longer have yearround direct flights from New Zealand or the Philippines with Air New Zealand offering only seasonal services between Auckland and Cairns. Philippine Airlines has scrapped the leg in favour of direct flights between Manila and Auckland.

PHILIPPINE Airlines are to ground their Manila to Auckland via Cairns return service from December 6, two years after the Far North welcomed the Asian carrier.

The decision means the city will no longer have year-round direct flights from New Zealand or the Philippines with Air New Zealand offering only seasonal services between Auckland and Cairns.

Philippine Airlines have scrapped the Cairns leg in favour of direct flights between Manila and Auckland.

Cairns Airport aviation chief commercial officer Paul McLean said it was a “logical step” for Philippine Airlines.

“Philippine Airlines announced when they first launched the flight in Auckland that they planned to make it a non-stop service,” he said.

“Cairns Airport is in active discussions with Philippine Airlines about maintaining Cairns as a destination in their network and with other airlines about trans-Tasman routes.”

New Zealand is one of the region’s most iron-clad tourism markets, while Cairns Airport statistics from November showed an exponential growth in Filipino passports cleared at immigration since the Philippine Airlines service was introduced in December 2015.

But, Mr McLean said, other services between Cairns and Asia were on the rise, headlined by the recent announcement of direct flights between the city and mainland China.

“Other international airlines have recently announced capacity increases to Cairns,” he said.

“SilkAir is adding a fifth weekly frequency from Singapore in December, Jin Air is returning with a seasonal flight from Seoul, Hong Kong Airlines will have up to daily flights over the 2018 Chinese New Year period and China Southern Airlines will start flying from Guangzhou in December.”

Philippine Airlines regional manager for Australia and New Zealand Ian Robinson said the company was “reviewing its options” for Cairns.

“We could continue the Cairns route in another manner … we haven’t yet come up with another plan,” he said.