Philippine Airlines has joined American’s growing list of international partners, making the Southeast Asian archipelago even more accessible.
The new codeshare covers American’s routes to Los Angeles from seven U.S. cities – Atlanta, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, Orlando and Washington, D.C. Travellers can then continue their journey on Philippine Airlines’ twice-daily flights from Los Angeles to its main hub in Manila, providing greater connectivity on the 15.5-hour trans-Pacific route, the airline announced this week.
In addition, the expanded agreement covers several of the Philippine carrier’s routes, including Tokyo to Manila and Cebu and Honolulu and Guam to Manila. Travellers on any of these new codeshare flights will be able to purchase tickets on both airlines for the same itinerary and enjoy seamless baggage transfers.
“We are pleased to partner with Philippine Airlines to offer our customers seamless connections to Manila, the region’s capital and economic hub, and Cebu, the gateway to countless tropical islands with pristine beaches,” said Anmol Bhargava, American’s vice president of global alliances and partnerships, in a statement. “The Philippines is one of the fastest growing economies in Asia, and we look forward to further strengthening our partnership with Philippine Airlines.”
Beyond the codeshare agreement, American and Philippine Airlines members won’t be able to earn or redeem each other’s miles.The news comes about a month after American applied for a third route to Tokyo from New York-JFK, in addition to Dallas-Fort Worth and Los Angeles. If approved by the US Department of Transportation, American plans to launch daily flights between the two cities – which would then boost connectivity to Manila and Cebu via the new codeshare partnership.
American Airlines is a founding member of the Oneworld airline alliance, which comprises 19 carriers worldwide. Outside of these core carriers, American partners with a dozen non-alliance carriers, including Aer Lingus, Hawaiian Airlines and now Philippine Airlines.