Philippine Airlines (PAL) plans to return to India after a 13-year absence with new nonstop services from Manila to New Delhi and Mumbai, a move that would nearly double nonstop capacity between the two countries.
The routes are scheduled to begin in December, subject to Indian government approval. Flights between Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL) and Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) will operate 3X-weekly, while Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (BOM) will be served 4X-weekly. PAL will deploy 168-seat Airbus A321neos on both routes.
“Opening services to Delhi and Mumbai strengthens PAL’s network in one of Asia’s most dynamic economies,” PAL President Richard Nuttall says. “These routes will create new opportunities for Filipinos to explore India while supporting the growing movement of travelers, businesses and goods between our two countries.”
The expansion will put PAL in competition with Air India on MNL-DEL, while opening the only nonstop connection between the Philippines and BOM.
Air India inaugurated DEL-MNL flights in October 2025, initially operating 5X-weekly with A321neos. OAG Schedules Analyser data shows the carrier increased the route to daily during summer 2026, offering approximately 78,960 two-way seats across the season.
Given PAL’s planned frequencies, the airline will add about 2,350 two-way seats per week between the Philippines and India. Combined with Air India’s current daily service, nonstop capacity would reach about 4,980 weekly seats.
Sabre Market Intelligence data shows an estimated 231,800 O&D passengers traveled between India and the Philippines in 2025, up 21.6% from approximately 190,600 a year earlier. Delhi was the largest city market, generating about 61,650 passengers, an increase of 14.5%. Mumbai ranked second with approximately 40,700 passengers, up 8.4%. Together, the two cities accounted for 44.2% of India-Philippines O&D traffic.
Bengaluru was the third-largest Indian origin, with about 29,200 passengers in 2025, followed by Chennai with 22,700 and Hyderabad with 18,800. The five largest Indian city markets together accounted for almost 75% of total traffic.
PAL previously launched MNL-DEL in 2011, split between three nonstops and three flights routed through Bangkok. The nonstop operation was suspended after less than a year because of weak local demand, while the Bangkok-DEL service ended in 2013.
The carrier, which is set to join Oneworld next year, had planned another Delhi return in 2019 using A321neos but deferred the launch amid tensions between India and Pakistan.
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