Philippine Airlines launches first nonstop Manila-Chicago flights

Philippine Airlines (PAL) has opened its first nonstop service between Manila and Chicago, creating the first direct air connection between the Philippines and the American Midwest, Mindanao Times reported.

The inaugural flight left Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 on November 9, 2026, after a send-off ceremony. Attendees included PAL Holdings, Inc. President and Chief Operating Officer Lucio C. Tan III, PAL Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Carlos Luis Fernandez, US Ambassador to the Philippines Lee Lipton, Tourism Secretary Bernardita "Dita" Angara-Mathay, Civil Aeronautics Board Deputy Executive Director Maria Elben S.L. Moro, and New NAIA Infrastructure Corp. General Manager Angelito Alvarez.

The route will operate three times a week. Chicago becomes PAL's eighth destination in the United States and its territories. The airline said it is the only carrier offering nonstop flights between the Philippines and Chicago, which it described as a major centre for business, manufacturing, technology, healthcare and education, as well as home to a sizeable Filipino-American community.

Fernandez called the route "a strategic addition to our North American network" and said Filipinos and Filipino-Americans in Chicago, Illinois and nearby states had long hoped for a more convenient link to the Philippines. "We are proud to finally make this possible," he said.

PAL said the service is meant to serve both leisure and business travellers, cut travel time and support tourism, trade, investment and cultural exchange between the two countries.

Passengers on the first flight received commemorative giveaways and joined launch activities before boarding. The departure was also the first to use NAIA Terminal 1's new remote bus gate facility, which the report linked to the airport's ongoing modernisation.