Philippine Airlines (PAL) is set to relaunch regular nonstop flights between Mactan-Cebu and Osaka Kansai beginning December 22, 2024. This move marks an expansion of the airline’s network in Japan. Japan is the Philippines’ fourth-largest source of tourist visitors. It is also home to over 300,000 overseas Filipinos.
Starting December 22, the Cebu-Osaka (Kansai)-Cebu route will operate three times weekly:
- PR 410 Cebu to Osaka – every Monday, Thursday, and Sunday, departing Mactan-Cebu at 11:45 AM, arriving in Osaka Kansai at 5:00 PM
- PR 409 Osaka to Cebu – every Monday, Thursday, and Sunday, departing Osaka Kansai at 6:00 PM, arriving in Mactan-Cebu at 9:40 PM
An additional weekly service will be added from February 26, 2025, increasing the frequency to four times weekly. The full schedule will be:
- PR 410 Cebu to Osaka – every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday, departing Mactan-Cebu at 11:45 AM, arriving in Osaka Kansai at 5:00 PM
- PR 409 Osaka to Cebu – every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday, departing Osaka Kansai at 6:00 PM, arriving in Mactan-Cebu at 9:40 PM
The three weekly flights will give direct access to Cebu and the central Philippines. They will cater to tourists and business travelers from the western regions of Japan. By February 26, 2025, the airline will add weekly frequency to meet the growing demand.
“We are delighted to make our comeback in the Cebu-Osaka market, just in time for the Christmas holiday season,” said PAL President & COO Captain Stanley K. Ng. “Our direct flights from Mactan to Kansai will help us promote the tourism industry and local businesses in Cebu and the Visayas region, and deepen both bilateral relations and cultural ties with our Japanese counterparts. Philippine Airlines looks forward to giving travelers from Western Japan the opportunity to experience the outstanding resorts and heritage experiences that Cebu is famous for, or to reunite with loved ones in the Philippines.”
Convenient Connections and Expanded Services
Travelers from Osaka can connect seamlessly in Cebu with PAL flights to various domestic destinations. These include Bacolod, Borongan, Busuanga (Coron), Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Caticlan (Boracay), Clark, and Cotabato. Other destinations are Davao, General Santos, Iloilo, Legazpi, Ozamiz, Puerto Princesa, Siargao, Tacloban, and Zamboanga. Cebu is also a favored destination for leisure and English as a Second Language (ESL) studies among Japanese travelers.
PAL will use a 199-seater Airbus A321 CEO for the Cebu-Osaka service. The resumption of this route complements the airline’s twice-daily flights between Manila and Osaka Kansai. It also complements the daily flights between Cebu and Tokyo Narita.
Overall, PAL offers the largest network of flights connecting the Philippines and Japan. It provides nonstop services to Osaka Kansai, Nagoya, Fukuoka, Tokyo Haneda, and Tokyo Narita. The airline also provides international links from Cebu, with daily flights to Seoul (Incheon) and thrice-weekly flights to Bangkok.
First love never dies. I fell in love with airplanes and aviation when I was a kid. My dream was to become a pilot, but destiny led me to another path: to be an aviation digital media content creator and a small business owner. My passion for aviation inspires me to bring you quality content through my website and social accounts. Aviation is indeed in my blood and blog!
