MANILA - Philippine Airlines (PAL) announced it may add another direct flight from Manila to a new US destination by the third quarter next year.

At the Christmas tree lighting ceremony at NAIA 1, PAL President and COO Stanley Ng said he can’t divulge yet the exact city in the United States, but gave a clue that it would be in the West Coast.

He added that they are still studying various options and it would also depend on the leased plane they will be getting next year.

“Sa US, may possibility na maka launch tayo ng additional destination. Pinag-aaralan pa nila,” said Ng.

US remains a big market for PAL with direct flights from Manila to New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles, as well as Honolulu and Guam. Ng said the recent entry of United Airlines in the Philippines-US route has so far not affected PAL negatively.

“Definitely mas marami ang demand kay sa supply, with United Airlines providing that supply, it’s not affecting the load factor of PAL at the moment,” said Ng.

With its eyes set on the US, Ng admitted that Europe may have to wait for now. PAL, like many airlines, are affected by supply chain issues, and Ng said they cannot add more flights with limited aircraft. But they hope that will change by 2025 as more planes are expected to arrive.

“Naging problem pa rin natin this time is really the supply chain, even if we want to mount more flights to provide access, problem really is limited by the supply chain issue. We can only add a few additional flights lang,” he said.

He added, “In 2025, if we get the planes already, the Airbus 350-1000, that’s the time we can look for long-haul destinations.”

PAL also recently expanded a codeshare agreement with Singapore Airlines, which will include flights to Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Milan, Paris, Rome, and Zurich.