A country’s flagship carrier is one of its most important tourism ambassadors overseas. The reputation of a nation’s airline will strongly influence our perspective of that location, hence why first world nations such as Singapore and the U.A.E. pour exorbitant investments into their respective flagship carriers.
Up until recently, the Philippines lagged its Asian and even ASEAN counterparts in promoting itself to the New Zealand market. It was very difficult to entice New Zealanders to visit the country if there were no direct routes to the Philippines; for many, the hassle of transiting to a third country was simply not worth it when Thailand and Malaysia, as examples, offered direct links.
That changed in late 2017, when Philippine Airlines (PAL) – our nation’s flagship carrier – finally christened non-stop New Zealand-Philippines flights. The route serves Auckland to Manila, and vice-versa, in the hopes of not just promoting Philippine tourism to foreigners but also to ease the burden of a growing number of OFWs now living and working in “the land of the long white clouds”.
I had the opportunity to experience the convenience of this route this March, as I made a voyage back to the Motherland. Having been a resident of New Zealand for a decade, I am a veteran of the arduous stop-over routes that us balikbayans were forced to take in the past.
More importantly, I was thrilled that my birth country could finally showcase what it had to offer to potential guests – in terms of tourism and overall flight experience. It was exciting to see a large aircraft bearing the name and colours of the Philippines.
Yet at the same time, I could not help but be nervous at the prospect as well. Filipinos are amazing people with the capacity of impressing the rest of the world, but too often we fail to do so and end up turning-off these would-be visitors.
I boarded Philippine Airlines flight 219 with mixed emotions, a toss between excitement and anxiety. The first sign of things to come came at the baggage drop-off desk, which opened at 9.30 p.m. despite hordes of travellers already having lined-up as early as 8 p.m.
Before service commenced, the PAL staff performed an exhibition for the eager crowd. The 6 or 7-odd employees, none of whom were of Filipino descent, lined up in front of their desks and chanted: “on behalf of the Philippines, we would like to greet you all in the Filipino way”, before reciting in unison: “Mabuhay!” accompanied with a bow.
Their supervisor awkwardly attempted to facilitate a round of applause from the travellers, to no avail. It was clear that my companions on the flight just wanted to get on with it, and on it we did.
However, infusing a cultural tinge into their service was laudable given that the airline – after all – partly serves as an ambassador of the Philippines. What should also be noted is that very few Filipinos say “mabuhay” in these times, much less saying so while bowing down.
Those were just the frills, of utmost importance to travellers was the experience of the flight. The aircraft used was an Airbus 340-300, a moderately aged plane seeing limited service in a select few countries these days.
The most noticeable aspect of the aircraft was that the signages were in English and Spanish. I found that to be fascinating at first thinking it was an attempt to reflect the colonial heritage of the Philippines, but upon further investigation the reason for the bilingual nature of these signs was that PAL’s A340-300 fleet were acquired second-hand from Spain’s national airline Iberia.
Also evident was the lack of in-flight entertainment monitors on the plane, instead there was an option to loan an iPad containing movies, TV shows and other entertainment programs in the middle of the flight. This was not a bother for me given I chose to carry a book with me and planned on sleeping most of the journey, but if you were a tourist who expects to catch-up on recent films or TV shows then it could come as a disappointment.
There were digital screens for general viewing, about four sets per section of the plane, I found them to be rather eyesores and played a pre-selected film which meant you were at the mercy of someone’s taste in entertainment. To make matters worse, these general screens malfunctioned towards the end of the flight which earned the mockery of a group of European tourists sat in the row next to me.
Besides picturesque beaches, the other big draw for Philippine tourism is Filipino cuisine. PAL did not disappoint in this regard, as I was thoroughly pleased with the meals catered during the flight.
Our 12:30 A.M., ten-hour flight served two hot meals and one snack, offering a selection of Filipino foods and more familiar Western meals. For breakfast, we could either choose between a chicken adobo and egg meal or a pork sautéed in tomato sauce meal.
PAL struck a right balance of introducing Filipino food to foreigners and not intimidating them by forcing them to only choose meals they were unfamiliar with. The option of having a more-known Western-style dish was helpful for those who were less adventurous, though I did observe many foreigners on my flight indulging in the Filipino cuisine option.
Another thing Filipinos are known for is our hospitality and friendliness, this was reflected in the attendants serving our flight. They were full of smiles like a typical Filipino would be and were motivated and enthusiastic to cater to the needs of those on-board.
The lavatories were also well-maintained and adequately equipped with necessary toiletries such as hand-wash, hand sanitizers and an ample amount of toilet paper and hand towels. These may seem very basic to outsiders, but there have been numerous horror stories in the past of lacklustre airlines running out of toilet paper mid-flight.
Thankfully, PAL will not be included in those horror stories.
The flight lasted ten hours and 15 minutes, which is significantly shorter than the usual 12 to 13-hour, stop-over laden journeys I was used to. Best of all, after I dozed off three hours into the flight I awoke to a chicken adobo meal and an update that we were already two hours away from Manila.
Having a direct link definitely made it convenient for travellers, who were mostly OFWs and balikbayans who wanted to visit their motherland and the loved ones they left behind. More so, it made experiencing what the Philippines has to offer more enticing to foreigners.