Philippine Airlines plans to restart Mumbai flights

PHILIPPINE Airlines are keen to recommence flights to Mumbai, India, however the country’s flag carrier first needs to secure the landing rights for a commercial stopover in Bangkok.
“We want to fly back to Mumbai in India, but the problem is the landing rights,” PAL president Jaime Bautista stated. Asia’s first airliner, which launched its inaugural flight on March 15, 1941, PAL is now negotiating with the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines for the landing rights to Bangkok.
However, the issue goes beyond the landing rights, as PAL need to make the route profitable by taking on passengers from Bangkok to Mumbai, and again on the return flight from Bangkok to Manila.
The airliner views the Manila-Bangkok-Mumbai route a profitable business with the flood of Indian tourists flying to Manila and Cebu. The carrier stopped flying to India back in the ’50s.
If PAL are refused permission to book passengers from Bangkok then the route would be too costly and rendered a non-commercial stopover. PAL aren’t able to fly directly to Mumbai, as it has to offset the cost of the long-haul service.
PAL has already regained its four weekly flights to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and hopes the Bangkok and Mumbai service can start by March 28 with Filipinos working in the region as its main passengers. The Riyadh service was slashed by high fuel cost in March 2006, oversupply of seats and strong competition from Middle East-based carriers.