Philippine Airlines Flight Review: CEB to MNL, January 2011

My plane to Manila from Cebu: Boeing 747-400

Note of these codes:
CEB - Cebu
MNL - Manila
PR / PAL - Philippine Airlines

Sometimes traveling back to your hometown was a bit disappointing since you will still longing for a longer vacation days. But for me, as an aviation enthusiast, I love going to the airport and explore from inside to outside the terminal and experience flying with different types of aircraft. It was just a mixed reactions since I was also a bit sad since the vacation was over. During my stay in Visayas particularly in Dumaguete and Cebu on Sinulog Festival, I was able to booked a flight courtesy of Philippine Airlines. Thanks for the promo fares, I was able to booked easily. It excited me more to find out that the aircraft to use was the jumbo jet, Boeing 747-400! :)

My flight was at 10:50AM and I left Cebu City at 9:00AM onboard a taxicab. It passed some areas of city until we reached Mandaue City and crossed Marcelo Fernan Bridge and headed to Lapu-Lapu City until we reached the airport in 20 minutes. I paid the fare based on the taxi meter which was a good thing for the taxi drivers here in Cebu.

Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) is the second busiest airport of the country. Second to NAIA in Manila. It was relatively small compared to Manila but security is strict which is very good. First check-in was smooth. All your things including your electronic gadgets on bags. After that, I went to Philippine Airlines check-in counter, there was a queue of lines and good thing that there were several counters open so all of us were accommodated in a shortest span of time. My check-in only took 25 minutes. Not bad! :)

I paid PHP200 for the Terminal Fee and headed to the Final Security Check. I went to Gate number 4 for the boarding. The pre-departure area was a little smaller compared to Manila. There were many establishments and pasalubong counters for last-minute buying.

Flight Number: PR 854

Route: Cebu - Manila

Airline: Philippine Airlines

Aircraft: Boeing 747-400

Flying Time: 75 minutes

Departure Time: 1050H

Arrival Time: 1205H

Boarding procedures were smooth as expected. A big thanks to the ground personnel of Philippine Airlines and the staff of the airport. I expected a full flight due to Sinulog festival and I was right. We were full force of 420 passengers. No wonder that the boarding time took more than 30 minutes. We departed on scheduled! :) Pictures overload during in-flight.

During the flight, cabin crew were busy serving snacks and newspapers since it was a full flight. They were so accommodating and unending smiles were seen on their faces. They were so helpful especially to the senior citizens. They assisted them properly and with care. Our arrival to NAIA was delayed by 10 minutes due to air traffic situation. We supposed to land before scheduled time at 11:55AM but they circled around Metro Manila and even we reached Bulacan and Pampanga. We reached Manila Bay and landed at the airport 10 minutes after. Landing was very smooth. That is why the jumbo jet is one of my favorite aircraft of all time.

Overall review: This flight is one of the smoothest landing I've encountered. Good job to the pilot for safe and smooth landing. Kudos also to the cabin crew for being accommodating to passengers. Good job also for the ground personnel for a breeze boarding procedures at Mactan-Cebu airport. It was great flying with the Asia's first, Shining Through, Philippine Airlines. :)

Thank you once again Philippine Airlines! :)