Philippine Airlines (PAL) launched its tri-class service with its newly-reconfigured Airbus 330 (A330) on 15 June 2017 at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Hotel in Waikiki, Hawaii.

Aside from tri-class seating (Business, Premium Economy and Economy class seats), the aircraft offers world-class amenities and the latest inflight entertainment system

The Honolulu launch was the first of a series of launches scheduled for this year in key cities including Melbourne, Shanghai, Sydney, Hong Kong, Narita, Haneda and Osaka.

Special guests at the launch include Hawaii Governor David Ige, Philippine Consul General Gina A. Jamoralin, Mr. Randy Baldemor, Chief Operating Officer of the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA), as well as Manila-based PAL officials Mr. Eric Clark Tan, Special Assistant to the Senior Vice President for Commercial Group and Ms. Sylvia Domingo, Vice President for marketing.

Governor Ige thanked PAL as it enhances Hawaii government’s efforts to expand the diversity of its travelers to Hawaii, and for bringing many Filipinos and Filipinos at heart to Hawaii, allowing the state to prosper. According to the Governor, Hawaii welcomed 20,000 visitors from the Philippines in 2016.

Consul General Jamoralin, in her remarks mentioned that PAL has always been an active partner of the Philippine Consulate General in its cultural and economic diplomacy efforts. She expressed appreciation to PAL for also extending assistance in times of crises and natural disasters.

Around 120 guests attended the launch, comprising of Hawaii elected officials, members of the media, tour operators, travel agents and members of the Filipino community. To show its appreciation to those who attended the launch, three roundtrip tickets to the Philippines were raffled among the guests.