Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) will launch direct flights between Cebu and Laoag beginning Dec. 15.

The twice-weekly operations will use an 86-seater aircraft.

Flight PR 2251 will depart Cebu every Tuesday and Friday at 7:35 a.m., while flight PR 2252 will leave Laoag on the same days at 10:25 a.m.

“We welcome the holiday season with a historic air link between Cebu and Laoag City. This brand-new service will help us open up a new market for tourist and business travelers by connecting the Ilocos Region via nonstop flights to Cebu, and beyond to other cities in the Visayas and Mindanao,” PAL president Stanley Ng said in a statement issued on Thursday.

PAL will mount more flights to and from Cebu in the coming months, Ng added.

Earlier, PAL announced it would reopen daily flights between Cebu and General Santos City starting Dec. 15.

It will also resume and operate thrice-weekly flights between Cebu and Ozamis City starting Dec. 16.

PAL has pioneered the Cebu-Baguio route, which currently operates four times weekly. (PNA)