PHILIPPINE Airlines yesterday announced additional flights to North America to serve the large Filipino communities there, even as most other international carriers have cut back operations as a result of the global downturn.

The airline, owned by Lucio Tan, said it would make daily flights from Manila to Vancouver starting March 23, up from five times a week.

It will also add a weekly flight to Los Angeles and San Francisco during the summer.

?From March 23, PAL will operate a direct flight to Vancouver every Monday and Wednesday, filling the only two days of the week when the service does not operate,?? the company said.

But the two additional flights will not fly on to Las Vegas.

The extra flights to Vancouver would improve the direct link between Canada and the Philippines and benefit the large Filipino migrant community there, PAL said.

With the new schedule, PR 116, using an Airbus, departs Manila Monday and Wednesday at 1:05 p.m., arriving in Vancouver at 10:20 a.m. the same day. The return service, PR 117, departs Vancouver at 1 p.m. and arrives in Manila at 5:50 p.m. the next day.

Wide-body Airbus A340-300 aircraft, which can seat 264 passengers, will continue to be deployed on the route.

For its West Coast service, PAL said it would add an Airbus A340-300 flight to Los Angeles every Friday from April 10 to June 19, while another A340-300 flight would serve San Francisco every Sunday from April 12 to June 21.

?The additional flights increase total frequency to Los Angeles to 10 times weekly, and to San Francisco to eight times weekly for the summer,? the airline said.

For its domestic service, PAL said its budget carrier, PAL Express, would mount more flights across its network of secondary domestic routes, particularly to island destinations that are huge tourist draws during the summer months.

PAL Express, which uses turbo-propeller planes, will add one daily flight between Manila and Caticlan, gateway to the resort island of Boracay, boosting the total frequency on the busy route to 11 flights daily starting March 20.

On the same day, PAL Express will operate a second daily frequency between Manila and Busuanga, the largest of the Calamian group of islands in northern Palawan that hosts the country?s most exclusive beach resorts. Roderick T. dela Cruz