Royal Air Philippines

Royal Air Charter Service, Inc., operating as Royal Air Philippines, is a Philippine-registered budget airline. The company was established on 22 August 2002 as a chartered airline. It began operations as a budget airline on 14 December 2018, with an inaugural flight from its hub in Clark, Pampanga to the resort island of Boracay in Aklan.

Not to be confused with Royal Air.
Royal Air Philippines
IATA ICAO Callsign
RW RYL DOUBLE GOLD
FoundedAugust 22, 2002 (2002-08-22)
HubsClark International Airport (Clark)
Focus citiesKalibo International Airport
Fleet size6
Destinations14
Parent companyRoyal Air Charter Service, Inc. (RACSI)
HeadquartersManila Office: Unit 707-5 Columbia Complex Bldg., Ninoy Aquino Ave., Paranaque City, Metro Manila, Philippines

Clark Office: Bldg 7549, Clark International Airport Passenger Terminal Bldg., Clark Freeport Zone, Angeles, Pampanga Philippines
Key peopleEduardo C. Novillas (CEO)
Websitehttp://flyroyalair.com/

The airline currently operates a fleet of an Airbus A319-100, Airbus A320-200 aircraft, and provides domestic and international non-scheduled airline and cargo services to Manila, Lal-lo, Caticlan, Clark, Cebu, Nanning, Kalibo, Kunming, Shenzhen, and Macau.

History

Royal Air Charter Service began its operations on 22 August 2002 as a charter airline. The airline began increasing its chartered domestic and international flights after it was granted the right to provide chartered air services through a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) issued by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) in May 2017.[1] On 21 June 2018, the airline began regular daily flights from Cebu City to Macau using ex-SWISS BAe Avro RJ100 aircraft. On 27 July 2018, the airline announced that it was working with the Philippines' Department of Tourism to establish a regular daily charter service between Macau and Subic Bay.[2][3]

On 26 July 2018, the CAB gave the airline the authority to operate as a commercial scheduled domestic and international flights. By September 2018, the company announced that it would commence daily domestic commercial operations from Clark International Airport in Pampanga on 12 November 2018 to five destinations, namely, Cebu City, Caticlan in Aklan, Tagbilaran in Bohol and Puerto Princesa and San Vicente in Palawan.[4] On 14 December 2018, the airline had its inaugural domestic commercial flight from Clark to Caticlan and back.[5] The company further expanded its international charter service and domestic commercial operations after it was able to lease two Airbus A319 aircraft from Chinese budget carrier Lanmei Airlines. The airline began offering charter flights from Cambodia and China to key Philippine cities such as Clark, Manila, Kalibo and Puerto Princesa.[6] On 19 May 2019, the airline announced the opening of its Cebu hub and launched its inaugural Cebu to Davao flight, with four flights a week between the two cities.[7][8][9]

On 18 August 2019, the airline began operating twice a week chartered flights between Macau, Cagayan North International Airport within the Cagayan Special Economic Zone in Lal-lo, Cagayan, and Clark.[10][11] The company thus became the first airline to operate in the airport, which opened in 2016.[12] However, on 31 January 2020, the airline temporarily seized its Macau-Lal-lo flights after the COVID-19 pandemic began.[13] The airline also suspended its charter flights between Wuhan and Kalibo on 23 January 2020 following the COVID-19 outbreak there.[14]

On 6 January 2020, the airline added its first Airbus A320-200 to its fleet. The aircraft was previously in service with Lanmei Airlines and was leased from Minsheng Financial Leasing. The aircraft entered service with the airline on 9 January 2020, with an inaugural flight from Manila to Sihanoukville in Cambodia.[15]

Features and amenities

Royal Air Philippines passengers currently receive 10 kg (22 lb) free check-in allowance on top of the 7 kg (15 lb) allowance on hand-carry items.[9] The airline also offers in-flight entertainment through its Sapphire In-Flight Entertainment Platform, which is a partnership with Global JD Capital Pte Ltd.[9][16] In August 2020, the airline announced a partnership with Sabre Corporation that enabled the airline to use Sabre distribution software in its ticketing systems.[17]

Destinations

As of January 2020, Royal Air Philippines serves the following destinations:

Airport Area Served Notes/References
Godofredo P. Ramos Airport Caticlan
Clark International Airport AngelesHub
Cagayan North International Airport Lal-lo
Kalibo International Airport KaliboFocus City
Kunming Changshui International Airport Kunming
Macau International Airport Macau
Hong Kong International Airport Hong Kong
Mactan–Cebu International Airport CebuHub
Ninoy Aquino International Airport Manila
Nanning Wuxu International Airport Nanning
Sihanouk International Airport Sihanoukville
Shenzhen Baoan International Airport Shenzhen
Yichang Sanxia Airport Yichang
Zhangjiajie Hehua International Airport Zhangjiajie

Fleet
Royal Air Charter Fleet[18]
Aircraft In
Service		 Orders Passengers Notes
Airbus A319-100 2 — 150 ex-Lanmei Airlines
Airbus A320-200 2 — 180
BAe Avro RJ100 3 — 97 ex-SWISS
Total 7 —

References
  1. Talavera, Catherine (29 July 2018). "DOT partners with Royal Air for more China flights". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  2. De Vera, Analou (28 July 2018). "DOT working with Royal Air Charter Service for Macau-Subic chartered flights". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  3. "Royal Air eyes Macau-Subic flights". Philippine News Agency. 27 July 2018. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  4. Manabat, Ashley (21 September 2018). "Royal Air to mount 5 domestic destinations via Clark airport". BusinessMirror. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  5. Roque, Nika Roque (21 December 2018). "Experience 'royal' service in the skies". The Manila Times. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  6. Valdez, Denise (30 July 2019). "Royal Air Philippines seeks to expand charter service". BusinessWorld. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  7. Lumawag, Reuel John (21 May 2019). "Royal Air eyes daily Cebu-DVO flights". Sunstar Davao. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  8. Mellejor, Lilian (20 May 2019). "Home-grown Royal Air launches Cebu-Davao route". Philippine News Agency. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  9. Fenol, Jessica Fenol (17 May 2019). "Royal Air Philippines launches Cebu hub, boosts Central Visayas operations". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  10. Visperas, Eva (20 August 2019). "Cagayan airport starts international flights". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  11. Yparraguirre, Liwayway (19 August 2019). "Northern Cagayan airport starts commercial flights". Philippine News Agency. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  12. Arevalo, Rica; Lazaro, Freddie; and Basa-Inigo, Liezel (19 August 2019). "Cagayan airport gets first direct international flight". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 27 January 2021.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. "All flights from Macau to Lallo, Cagayan suspended". Manila Standard. 31 January 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  14. "Philippines stops accepting flights from Wuhan, origin of new coronavirus". CNN Philippines. 23 January 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  15. "Royal Air Philippines adds first A320-200". www.ch-aviation.com. 1 January 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  16. "Royal Air brings the Next Generation of In-Flight Entertainment to travelers". Manila Standard. 20 May 2019. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  17. "Royal Air Philippines selects Sabre as its preferred distribution partner to drive growth and power increased agency sales". www.sabre.com. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  18. "Royal Air Philippines Fleet Details and History". www.planespotters.net. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
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