PAL ramps up flights to Ilocos Norte
Returning Ilocos Norte residents and tourists alike land in Laoag International Airport in this photo taken in January 2019. (Photo courtesy of Ilocos Norte provincial government)
LAOAG CITY, Ilocos Norte — The country’s flag carrier, the Philippine Airlines (PAL), has ramped up the number of flights to Ilocos Norte beginning Tuesday (March 1), the Ilocos Norte tourism office (INTO) announced on Monday, Feb. 28.
The new flights indicate that the demand for travel is slowly picking up after Ilocos Norte was downgraded to the most lenient COVID-19 Alert Level 1, it said.
According to the provincial government, the additional flights would make it easier for individuals, including tourists, to enter the province.
Five PAL flights from Metro Manila to the capital city of Laoag and vice versa are available in a week or every Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Previously, PAL only offered a flight schedule of twice a week covering the same route.
As COVID-19 cases began to slow down in February, the provincial government sought to increase the number of flights to the province as well as the reduction in the amount of airfare.
A one-way ticket costs P4,995 from just P3,000 before the pandemic.
At the height of the pandemic in June last year, regional flights had been accommodated at Laoag International Airport to cater to more returning Filipinos.
Flights from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia were stopped when the province had to deal with an outbreak fueled by the Delta variant.
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