Philippine Airlines announced that it will add a new flight connecting Seattle (SEA) and Manila (MNL). This will be the 4th Philippine Airlines route connecting the bustling metropolis of Manila with the United States, joining Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York City. The new route continues the expansion of Seattle, which saw the addition of Starlux flights to Taipei, as a hub for the Asia Pacific region.

Philippine Airlines Seattle To Manila Route

Starting October 2nd, 2024, Philippine Airlines will operate a three times weekly non-stop flight between Seattle (SEA) and Manila (MNL). This route was originally teased in 2020, but the pandemic put an immediate hold on the planned launch. The new flight will have the following flight times:

Summer / Winter Schedule

• PR125 Seattle (SEA) – Manila (MNL), departing 23:40 and arriving 04:45 (+2 days) – 14hr 05 min flight time
• PR 124 Manila (MNL) – Seattle (SEA), departing 22:40 and arriving 19:15 – 11hr 25 min flight time

Credit. GCMapper. Philippine Airlines SEA – MNL Route.

Philippine Airlines will operate its Boeing 777-300ER aircraft on this route in a two class configuration: 42 Business Class seats and 328 Economy Class seats. The Business Class seats have an outdated 2-3-2 configuration, but still feature lie flat seats and normal perks. The Economy Class has a 3-4-3 configuration with each seat offering passengers a personal television screen.

Note: Philippine Airlines has an order for nine Airbus A350-1000 aircraft, which will form the foundation for the future long-haul fleet. However, the airline will not take delivery of the first aircraft until 2025. 

Credit. Philippine Airlines. Philippine Airlines 777-300ER Business Class.

Credit. Philippine Airlines. Philippine Airlines 777-300ER Economy Class.

Booking Philippine Airlines Seattle To Manila Route

At this time, the new Philippine Airlines SEA – MNL route is only available for cash bookings. Here is an estimate of the cash booking cost based on the average round-trip cash price for tickets in November:

• Economy Class: $700 – $1,000
• Business Class: $2,500 – $3,500

Unfortunately, there are no award booking options for Philippine Airlines on flights to North America.

• Economy Class: Unavailable
• Business Class: Unavailable

Note: American Airlines offers limited award booking options for Philippine Airlines on codeshare routes. Flights between North America and the Philippines are not included as part of the codeshare agreement.

Final Thoughts

Philippine Airlines is not acting like an airline that sought bankruptcy protection as recently as 2021. The airline is expanding routes (Seattle), forming co-share partnerships (American), and purchasing new planes (A350-1000) to modernize the fleet. However, Philippine Airlines remains on the outside of the three major airline alliances, which hurts the competitiveness of the airline on routes between the Philippines and the United States (vs United Airlines which now offers a SFO – MNL option). In addition, the hard and soft product lag behind not only the award-winning offerings from many Asian airlines (i.e. ANA, Japan, Singapore, etc), but also American airlines (i.e. United). This airline is one to watch over the next five years as the fleet, and hopefully hard and soft products, are modernized.