Philippine Airlines (PAL) announced in a press conference at the Marco Polo Hotel in Davao City, Philippines yesterday the possibility of opening a Davao-to-Palau route.
PAL President and Chief Operating Officer Jaime J. Bautista said that a business group in Palau had proposed to them to open the Davao-Palau route, saying that they are now “reviewing the possibility.”
Bautista said that this may be on a chartered basis.
Davao to Palau route is shorter in terms of distance as they are only 1,007 kilometers apart from each other compared to the existing Manila-Palau route which is at 1,678 kilometers.
This is a welcome news for Filipinos, especially those who are from the southern part of the Philippines.
Filipinos currently composed a big chunk of the foreign population in Palau.
The newly launched PAL aircraft, Bombardier Q400, according to Bautista, may be feasible for the Davao-Palau flight, adding that it can withstand up to seven-hour flight.
In the past, there used to be a Palau-Davao route under the airlines, Asian Spirit. (Rhealyn C. Pojas – Reporter/With reports from Kristianne Fusilero, Davao-based journalist)