PAL relaunches Cebu-Osaka flights

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) on Friday announced that it is relaunching its nonstop flights between Cebu and Osaka, Japan, starting December this year.

In a statement, PAL said that its Cebu-Osaka (Kansai)-Cebu route will operate three times weekly, beginning December 22, with the following schedules:

• PR 410 Cebu-Osaka – every Monday, Thursday and Sunday, departing Mactan-Cebu at 11:45 a.m., arriving in Osaka Kansai at 5 p.m.
• PR 409 Osaka-Cebu – every Monday, Thursday and Sunday, departing Osaka Kansai at 6 p.m., arriving in Mactan-Cebu at 9:40 p.m.

Moreover, the airline said it would increase its Cebu-Osaka-Cebu service to four times weekly beginning February 26, 2025:

The full schedule is as follows:

• PR 410 Cebu-Osaka – every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday, departing Mactan-Cebu at 11:45 a.m., arriving in Osaka Kansai at 5 p.m.
• PR 409 Osaka-Cebu – every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday, departing Osaka Kansai at 6 p.m., arriving in Mactan-Cebu at 9:40 p.m.

"We are delighted to make our comeback in the Cebu-Osaka market, just in time for the Christmas holiday season. Our direct flights from Mactan to Kansai will help us promote the tourism industry and local businesses in Cebu and the Visayas region and deepen both bilateral relations and cultural ties with our Japanese counterparts,'' PAL president and COO Captain Stanley Ng said.

PAL said relaunching the Cebu-Osaka route marks a “decisive expansion” of the flag carrier’s network in Japan—the Philippines’ fourth largest source of tourists and home to over 300,000 overseas Filipinos.

The airline said it is deploying a 199-seater Airbus A321 CEO for the Cebu-Osaka service.

PAL said the resumption of Cebu-Osaka services complements its twice-daily flights between Manila and Osaka Kansai, as well as daily flights between Cebu and Tokyo Narita.

The flag carrier currently offers flights on multiple routes linking the Philippines and Japan, with nonstop services to Osaka Kansai, Nagoya, Fukuoka, Tokyo Haneda, and Tokyo Narita.

PAL is also offering other international links from Cebu, with daily flights to Seoul (Incheon) and three weekly flights to Bangkok.  — VBL, GMA Integrated News