Philippines in Talks with India to Launch Chartered Flights

The Philippines is targeting to tap India’s travel market as part of its initiatives to boost tourism. According to Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Christina Frasco, the agency is already in talks with the Indian government to launch chartered flights between the two countries within the year.

“There have already been successful talks [….] in trying to entice our local carriers, plus carriers from India, to mount flights to the Philippines,” Frasco told an interview with reporters.

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Besides the chartered flights that will be used to test the waters, the DOT is also proposing to arrange group trips from India to the Philippines by way of coordinating with tour operators and travel agencies. The flights count as the country’s latest attempt to capture one of the world's biggest outbound travel markets, following its push for the streamlining of the electronic visa system for Indian tourists.

“Hopefully, with these negotiations and collaborations that we made in cooperation with the Department of Transportation, we will be seeing good news in terms of mounted flights before the end of the year,” said Frasco.

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines earlier said it is also looking to mount direct flights to India once it addresses its supply crunch. Currently, the only routes available from Manila are Bengaluru International Airport, Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, and Hyderabad Rajiv Gandhi International Airport.

In 2023, Indian tourists ranked 13th in arrivals to the Philippines at 70,286.