Philippine Airlines (PAL) has brought back flights between Manila and New York City after a long absence. The airline last landed in NYC in 1997, when it ended service out of Newark Liberty Airport, but flights resumed from JFK Airport on March 15, 2015. The Philippine flag carrier is now flying an Airbus A340-300 four times a week, with a two-hour transit stop in Vancouver. The total flying time is 16.5 hours, making it Philippine Airlines' longest flight. The service comes at an auspicious time, with some airlines, including Thai and Malaysia, having recently dropped ultra-long distance routes to the United States.
PAL does already serve some U.S. points, all of which are on the Pacific Rim, including L.A., San Francisco, Honolulu, and Guam. Why the long absence from the East Coast? The U.S. government wouldn’t have permitted any new service from Manila after the Federal Aviation Administration downgraded the Philippines’ safety ranking to a “category 2” status, meaning the country's aviation did not meet international standards as spelled out by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Any airline based in a country carrying that low a rating cannot begin new services or even add frequencies on existing routes to the U.S.
The Philippines recently passed an ICAO audit and is now back in the good graces of the FAA. Roundtrip flights in economy on the new route begin from $1,225 per person.