So I am in South Wales and I was just wondering what would be the best airport for me to fly from? Obviously Cardiff and Bristol are the closest but neither offer direct flights and the flight times plus stopovers are a bit lengthy. What airport do you reckon would be my best bet? Thanks in advance.
I guess it really depends on what part of the Phil's you are heading to. Whichever part there will be a stopover somewhere
Well, it is Cavite that I intend to be going to. So I guess Manila is the closest. Ah, I had a feeling that might be the case.
Just not Manchester. Terrible queue for the security, takes ages. Flew there last Sunday. Although I understand they're very careful nowadays. I flew direct from Heathrow last year. But maybe that's too far for you.
Yes, no doubt security at airports has been increased. I think Heathrow would actually be closer to me than Manchester. What were the flight time and stopovers like? I just don't really want to spend 24 hours plus getting to the Phils, which most flights seem to be haha.
You can do direct with phil air from Heathrow as @Brom27 says. Not best airline in the world but it gets you to manilla direct. Or use a search engine like skyscanner and make a decision from local airports or further afield. Direct it's a 14 hour flight so maybe you want a stopover to stretch your legs
Usually in the past I have flown phil air direct, but for price wise this time I'm flying Etihad from Heathrow. Due to go end of this month. 18 hours travelling with a 3 hour stop in Abu Dhabi.
PAL was convenient for me, time wise. From London to Manila you will arrive by 7 pm Philippine time and Manila to London you will arrive 9 pm UK time. That's their flight everyday. Just not sure if there's a bit of change aside from terminal. Before they are in T2 but now in T3 I guess.
Somewhere in Cavite province or the city itself? If somewhere in the province then you could do the scenic route . London to Singapore with Garuda and then Silk Air from Singapore to Kalibo. Then the bus up through Mindoro and into Luzon... about 12 hours... Would probably take a few hours from Manila, traffic depending and depending on where you're going to the city or further south. Turkish Airlines also go from Birmingham via Istanbul but I would guess Birmingham is about as far as Heathrow from South Wales! But it is quite a cheap flight generally the last time I looked.
As far as I'm aware Manchester and Heathrow are the only 2 UK airports connected to the Philippines. My fiancé flew (tourist visa) with PAL last autumn....direct to LHR. Wasn't bad but food was average and no entertainment console on seat back - but they issue iPads on first come first served basis. She's coming over soon (Settlement visa) with Thai Airways via Bangkok. Strongly suggest you book direct with airline rather than through an agent.
I have flown from Cardiff to the Philippines with KLM on numerous occasions. Check the bags at Cardiff and forget about them until you arrive in Manila; easy-peasy.
@Stupot10 Thanks for the advice, and I hope you enjoy your trip @Brom27 Thanks, I will make sure to check out PAL then and see how it is. @Manila_Paul I will be going to Trece Martires in Cavite province. I will look into the scenic route. Even if I don't do it this time around, I'll see about another time. Yeah, Birmingham is probably about the same but I'll look wherever flights are cheaper. Thanks! @Scotschap16 Thanks for the additional info about PAL and where to book. Also, I hope your fiancé enjoys her visit and you having her here @Markham Yeah, I am aware of the flight Cardiff do but they just seem to be much longer than anywhere else, probably on account of the more stopovers the flights seem to do haha. Whilst Cardiff is closer, unfortunately due to politics it isn't that convenient on flights for us Welsh or people looking to visit Wales. I shall checl it out again though and see if any of the flights would be convenient for me. Thanks for the advice everyone! Much appreciated.
I doubt you'll be able to beat 18hrs 30mins - Depart Cardiff at 5.15pm arrive in Schipol at 7.35pm Depart Schipol at 8.45pm arrive Manila at 6.45pm (next day) Depart Manila at 8.05pm arrive Schipol at 06.50am (next day) Depart Schipol at 9.10am arrive Cardiff at 09.30am
Philippine Airlines actually seem to be ok, direct from Heathrow to Manila, 13hrs 55mins. It'll take me 2 to 3 hours to get to Heathrow but all in all I think it is a good shout. Depart Heathrow at 2220 then arrive at Manila 1915 next day. Depart Manila 1300 then arrive at Heathrow 2035 same day.
I believe that Qatar Airlines are opening a new route from Cardiff to Doha next year, that means possible flights from Cardiff to Manila, Clark, and Cebu, connecting in Doha Another option for the future.
From all reports while PAL will be quicker by a couple of hours the experience in flight is not really worth it, also Schiphol is a nicer airport than Heathrow to spend time in and even in cattle class KLM is a quality airline and really quite pleasant to fly with. Emirates are a very good option too and similar overall round trip times to KLM, to be honest you will feel much better at the end of a longer set of flights when you don't have a 2 or 3 hour drive or train journey back home. Like Markham I have been fond of KLM for many years and like him I have travelled back and forwards to the Philippines many times, in my case I think 26 times now, three of those were with Emirates the rest were KLM. These days I would go by other routes because I no longer have any 'miles loyalty' tie to KLM, I would consider Emirates, Etihad, Singapore, Cathay and Qatar as options although right now Qatar would be out of the question with the current crisis that is brewing in the middle east around Qatar. Ultimately many people are driven by arrival time, but having spent a lot of time in the air that's less important than a bit of comfort on a really long haul trip.
I hope they will have been solved by next Wednesday, when I am due to fly with Qatar Airways from Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) to Luxor (Egypt) via Doha. Not looking so good at the moment.
Gerry, KLM have regional flights from almost all major airports in the UK to their Schiphol hub, no one has a direct flight apart from PAL via Heathrow, you can fly from Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh to Schiphol and connect from there, they even flew from Liverpool John Lennon airport for a few years which was handier and cheaper than Manchester for me, but sadly they shut that route down. edit: I forgot, KLM also fly from Inverness edit 2: the only European carrier left is KLM, all of the rest pulled out of Manila over the last two decades mostly due to the poisonous tax environment regards the 'common carriers tax' which has now been abolished but sadly all too late for the European carriers, even KLM pulled out and added an extra leg to the journey via Taiwan to avoid that tax.
Hi. I'm in South Wales too and go to the Philippines as often as possible. i've looked at all the routes and I guess it all depends on your budget and the amount of time you want to spend on changeovers. I just come back flying with Ethiad from heathrow, flight cost under 450 and the time in Dubai was minimal. To be honest the worst part for me is the National Express trip back from Heathrow to Swansea. But then again that cost me 60 quid both ways so compare that to the fuel up and parking the car for 6 weeks it's still the better option for me. Good luck.
