THE United Airlines has officially announced that it will finally be offering nonstop flights from San Francisco to Manila, making it the first airline from the U.S. to fly directly to Manila.
This will officially start on the 29th of October 2023. Included in their announcement is their plan to expand their access within other countries in Asia as well such as Hong Kong, Tokyo, as well as Taipei. They introduced, alongside the flight to Manila, flights for Los Angeles to Hong Kong, Los Angeles to Tokyo, and San Francisco to Taipei available twice a day.
The airline also stated that nonstop flights to other Asian countries would continue come October 28. Additional security will be placed in other countries, such as Taipei and Hong Kong, and they will also be adding new routes for their flights to different countries, like the flights to New Zealand and Australia that will be available in the fall.
What is a nonstop flight?
No, nonstop doesn’t mean that the plane never lands. According to contributing digital editor Cynthia Drescher of Condé Nast Traveler, a nonstop flight means that the plane goes from one airport to the other without making any other stops, which is optimal for when you want a faster flight.
Nonstop flights have been around since 1927, first done by American aviator Charles Lindbergh on a trip from New York all the way to France. They’ve been a thing ever since.
Other forms of flights include direct and connecting flights; a direct flight is one that has stops in other cities, and a connecting flight means that there is a layover stop that’s a part of your flight, which means that you have to transfer planes in order to get to your target destination.
What does this mean for us?
One negative drawback of choosing a nonstop flight is that it often costs more than you would pay for one with layovers included in the schedule.
On their website, prices for the flights from San Francisco to Manila start at USD 873, which is over P47, 000 when converted to the local currency. Obviously, not everyone can afford to pay that much for just one roundtrip, flight, much less for just an Economy seat.
At present, it seems that the earliest available flight from San Francisco to Manila available on their website will be departing on November 8; for a Roundtrip Economy ticket it would be USD 1,392 (P75,991) for Premium Economy it would be USD 2,810 (P153,402) and for Business Class it would be USD 5,570 (P304,074) Again, not very affordable!
But if you do have the means to pay more to ensure your own comfort and convenience, then the addition of a nonstop flight option in the Philippines is a great step in the right direction for the future of air travel here in the country.
A faster flight, though, is not the only benefit you can get from a nonstop flight.
Issues that often arise with flights that have layovers are the possibility of missing your connecting flight due to your layover time being too short, growing tired since you have to carry your luggage, or perhaps even losing your luggage entirely when you transfer to your connecting flight.
These are all problems that can be avoided with the addition of nonstop flights to the Philippines; one can only hope that more airlines will follow suit, providing more choices for Filipino travelers.
