Consul General Robespierre Bolivar, 2nd from left, joins senior executives of PAL and ANA following the signing of the Business and Capital Agreement between the two airlines.  Signing the agreement on behalf of PAL were Mr Michael Tan, Director of PAL Holdings and President of the Lucio Tan Group, and Mr Jaime Bautista, President and Chief Operating Officer of PAL.

Philippine Airlines (PAL) and All Nippon Air (ANA) signed a Business and Capital Partnership Agreement on 08 February 2019, paving the way for two of Asia’s biggest airlines to forge stronger ties to serve Filipino and Japanese travelers better.

Through the deal ANA Holdings, Inc. will invest US Dollars 95 million and acquire 9.5 percent of PAL Holding’s outstanding shares.

The deal is seen to strengthen PAL’s bid to expand its network and grow its fleet to further improve its services to the traveling Filipino public.

In his remarks at the signing ceremony on behalf of the Philippine Embassy, Consul General Robespierre Bolivar noted that this is “the Golden Age of Philippines-Japan relations, and the partnership between PAL and ANA plays a crucial part in our vibrant people-to-people exchanges.”

PAL currently operates 84 flights weekly to 6 cities in Japan.  It recently began operating flights to Chitose Airport in Sapporo.  ANA, on the other hand, flies 14 times weekly to 2 destinations in the Philippines.

In 2018, more than half a million Filipinos visited Japan.  This represented an almost 19 per cent growth in tourist arrivals from the Philippines when compared to 2017 figures.  The number of Japanese visitors to the Philippines, on the other hand, was pegged at more than 631,000 for 2018, registering an almost 9 per cent increase compared to the year before.

This year marks the 70^th anniversary of Philippine Airlines’ maiden voyage to Japan.  It launched its first Manila-Tokyo flight on 26 January 2019.  END

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