[媒体名称] TravelNewsAsia [新闻日期]2017/12/21
[网址]
http://www.asiatraveltips.com/news17/2112-PhilippineAirlines.shtml
菲航首度使用北极航线不停站直飞多伦多
看来要逐渐抢回被国泰长荣拉走菲籍旅客的美东市场
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Philippine Airlines Makes History with First Polar Flight
Philippine Airlines made history earlier this week, operating its first
ultra-long polar flight from Toronto, Canada nonstop to Manila - the
first-ever crossing of the Polar region by a Filipino airline.
PAL flight PR119 took off from Toronto's Pearson International Airport at
00:53 on 17 December, arriving Manila the next day at 06:10.
The historical flight was led by PAL Vice President for flight operations
Captain Florendo Jose “Chuck” Aquino III, together with Captain Raymond “XP
” Casambre, First Officer Paul “Boom” Domingo and Second Officer
Jhonathanne “Jo” Hizon.
Philippine Airlines currently uses Boeing 777-300ER to operate the polar
route, however Airbus A350 aircraft (pictured) will also be used for these
flights in 2018. Click to enlarge.
The 370-seater Boeing 777-300ER, with registry number RP-C7779, flew 7,200
nautical miles or 13,300 kilometers and traveled over Canada, Greenland, the
Arctic Circle, Russia, Mongolia and parts of China. The flight was conducted
at cruising altitudes ranging from 29,000 to 37,000 feet.
PAL President and COO, Jaime J. Bautista, said, “This was the first non stop
direct flight from Toronto to Manila over the polar region (north pole).
Kudos to the PAL team which made this flight a reality and most importantly,
congratulations to our PAL flight deck crew under the leadership of Capt.
Chuck. You make us proud.”
For his part, Capt. Aquino said “I am truly honoured to have been given the
privilege to lead this milestone flight. More than that, I was glad to be
part of a journey that brought much happiness to passengers on board as they
were given a rare treat of the Northern Lights."
PAL decided to shift to a direct non stop service via the polar route to cut
down on the total traveling time between Toronto and Manila. The carrier used
to operate flights between the two points with a stopover in Vancouver, a
longer routing that resulted in a combined flying and ground time of 21
hours. This new route cuts traveling time by 4.5 hours.
From here on, PAL will operate nonstop Manila-Toronto and Toronto-Manila
flights four times per weekl, with departures from Manila every Wednesday,
Friday, Saturday and Sunday; and departures from Toronto every Monday,
Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.
At present, the long-range B777 will be used on the polar route. The
ultra-long range Airbus A350s, which will be delivered starting 2018, will
also serve the route.
PAL plans to follow up with another polar crossing service on an even longer
nonstop route (over 17 hours): from Manila to New York (JFK Airport) and from
New York to Manila, using A350 aircraft, within the second half of 2018.