Effective this month, Philippine Airlines (PAL) will be adding three flights into Australia, including Darwin, Perth, and Brisbane, bringing to five its total number of Philippine-Australia routes.

PAL's Manila-Perth-Manila service is four times weekly while the Manila-Brisbane-Manila service is thrice weekly. Both will pass through Darwin.

"The new connections are envisioned to increase passenger traffic between the Philippines and Australia and strengthen bilateral ties between both countries. Return flights from these cities make Manila an ideal gateway to popular Asian destinations like Hong Kong, China, Japan and Korea and a jump off point to the country's top travel spots," Ramon S. Ang, PAL president and chief operating officer, said.

Although the Darwin and Perth flights are maiden journeys, PAL's flight to Brisbane marks its third return to the Australian state of Queensland's capital city. Its first Manila-Brisbane route flew in 1982 through 1998. Then it reopened briefly in 2009 until 2010 before this year's third return.

Currently servicing Sydney and Melbourne, PAL's inaugural flights to the two cities occurred on Oct. 6, 1965, and on Sept. 9, 1971, respectively. The airline currently deploys 7,400 seats a week on these routes, making it the largest carrier operating between the Philippines and Australia.

At least 300,000 Filipinos who reside in Australia and 5,000 Australian expatriates in the Philippines are potential customers of the new PAL flights. "Filipinos have a significant presence in Darwin, and I expect the new service to be a boon for their friends and relatives visiting the Territory and to Territorians travelling overseas," Peter Chandler, Darwin's Lands, Planning and Environment Minister and Acting Business Minister, said.

The new service, Mr Chandler said, adds 2,000 seats a week in and out of Darwin alone.

"Given the activity arising from the resources boom and projects like Ichthys, Philippine Airlines is making a timely entry to the market."

As the capital of the Northern Territory, Darwin will be PAL's new gateway in Australia. Its proximity to South East Asia makes it an important Australian gateway to countries like Indonesia and East Timor.

PAL departs Darwin at 2.05 pm on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, and lands in Manila at 5.05 pm. On other days, it flies at 3 pm and arrives at 6 pm in Manila.

Flights from Manila will continue to Brisbane and Perth carrying international passengers. PAL will operate the route with a 150 or a 156-seat Airbus A320 aircraft with business and economy classes.