PAL bares new Clark and Quanzhou route

National hero Jose Rizal was of ethnic Chinese descent and his ancestry can be traced to the first generation of Ke family.

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines now flies multiple times each week to a total five China destinations that include Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Macau and soon Quanzhou.

Philippine Airlines (PAL) management on Friday announced that starting on 16 January 2020, PR350 will fly three times a week the new Clark-Quanzhou-Clark route. The Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday flights departs rom Clark at 1:50 p.m. and touch down in Quanzhou (Jinjiang) at 4:30 p.m.

From Quanzhou (Jinjiang), the flight departs at 5:30 p.m. and arrive in Manila at 7:55 p.m. on the same days.

This new flight offering to and from Clark complements PAL’s existing service from Manila to this city in Fujian China.

From Manila, one can take PR 356 which departs daily at 11 a.m. and arrives in Quanzhou (Jinjiang) at 1:35 p.m.

PR 357 leaves daily at 2:25 p.m. and touches down in Manila at 5:05 p.m.

Now, Northern Manila, Central and Northern Luzon residents need not travel all the way to Manila’s Airport to catch a flight to the charming Chinese city.

Jinjiang, a county-level city of Quanzhou City, is home to the Jose Rizal Shrine — an exact replica of the Rizal Monument in Manila.

National hero Jose Rizal was of ethnic Chinese descent and his ancestry can be traced to the first generation of Ke family. Rizal’s great, great grandfather Domingo Lamco was born in Chinchew district of the province of Fookien but migrated to the Philippines due to political unrest in China and settled in Calamba in 1697. Lam’s acknowledged descendant was Juan Mercado, father of Francisco, who was Rizal’s father.

Visitors from QUANZHOU (Jinjiang) may now seize the opportunity to take the flight to Clark, then travel to various tourist attractions of the country for some sun and sea and other forms of nature adventure.

PAL’s 156-seater Airbus A320 will serve the brand new route.

The airline’s current route network between the Philippines and China covers Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and Macau.

According to the latest DoT data, the Philippines received a total of 6,161,503 visitors from January to September 2019, indicating a 14.37 percent increase from the 5,387,458 arrivals in the same period last year.

For the first nine months, South Korea still tops the list with a total of 1,450,792 arrivals, followed by China with 1,359,817.

US visitor arrivals is third, Japan, fourth and China’s Taiwan, fifth.