Plan a vacation in the Philippines and want to experience everything the magical island nation has to offer you in a relatively short time? The best way to move from place to place may be to book flights within the Philippines. We have compiled detailed information about internal flights in the Philippines, including a price comparison engine, where you can find the most affordable domestic flights in the Philippines and even order flight tickets online quickly and conveniently.
How do you find domestic flights in the Philippines?
If you have decided to book internal flights in the Philippines, you should do so ahead of time to ensure that you have seats left on the flight (and at a cheap rate in an economy class seat). One of the most convenient, affordable, and safest ways to order flight tickets is to use a price comparison engine for flights, such as Kiwi’s, which appears below.
To get results adapted to your specific needs, you will have to enter in the search boxes the names of the cities or islands to which you will want to arrive. Thus you will receive only the relevant options for you. If you don’t yet have a route to where you’re going, fill in the ‘From’ field with the destination you’re traveling from (e.g. Manila) and then enter the Philippines in the ‘To’ field, which when you search you will see all domestic flights options from your location.
You can enter in the search box the place from which you want to depart by flight and the destination you want to reach the number of passengers, and all the relevant details, such as the flight times, the amount of luggage, whether it is a one-way or round-trip flight, etc.
The system will find all the relevant flights for you and display them from the cheapest to the most expensive.
Local flights in the Philippines are an excellent way to get around the country, especially for those whose trip is relatively short and want to discover as many fascinating islands and destinations as possible. The Philippines has more than 7,000 islands and also a rather long list of airports, which will allow you to reach your next destination on your trip without wasting too much time. In addition, several domestic airlines offer national flights inside the Philippines, both low-cost and full-service airlines. The prices for flights within the Philippines are relatively cheap and competitive, and the frequency of flights to popular destinations is relatively high.
Flights within the Philippines – price comparison and online booking
Using Kiwi’s price comparison engine has several advantages: first and foremost, the convenient search engine, which allows you to search even if you don’t have a specific destination (for example, if you are in Cebu and want to check where flights arrive from there and what the prices are), as well as if your date is flexible ( which will allow you to find particularly cheap flights), and in addition, you can request that only tickets that include baggage allowance, etc., be presented to you. Filtering the results is particularly convenient and will allow you to ask the website to display flights at certain times of the day.
Another advantage is the efficient booking process: the booking form is convenient and includes the option to add baggage allowance (that is, to know already at the time of booking how much extra luggage will cost you), to add travel insurance, and even to add baggage loss insurance from well-known external companies in the field. That are so many important services for the flight that can be ordered already when booking the flight with Kiwi. Also, check Kiwi Guarantee, another site insurance that covers connections.
Please note that the terms and services available for each ticket may change, so it’s worth reading when booking, and luckily they’re easily readable during the search and booking process.
Another great advantage of the Kiwi site is the price alert option: after clicking the “Search” button, a button with a bell called “Create Price Alerts” will appear on the right side of the results that will allow you to receive alerts when prices change.
We set out to check what awaits us when booking a domestic flight in the Philippines, from ticket prices and price comparisons to conditions on the flight, etc. Please note that the prices, and times of the flights may change from time to time, so you should read the conditions carefully during the booking.
Domestic airlines in the Philippines
Several domestic airlines operate local flights in the Philippines.
Philippine Airlines
Philippine Airlines is the national airline of the Philippines, founded in 1941. It has bases in Manila, Cebu city, and Davao. It operates about 30 routes of flights within the Philippines. It is a full-service company and usually offers refreshments and drinks on national flights in the Philippines that are over 45 minutes long.
Philippines AirAsia
Philippines AirAsia is a Low-cost company, a subsidiary of AirAsia. It operates several flight lines within the Philippines to destinations such as Cebu city, Clark, Davao, Kalibo, Manila, and more. Its fleet includes about 24 Airbus A320-200 aircraft. It operates daily flights from Manila to Cebu city, Manila to Davao, Manila to Calibo, and more.
Cebu Pacific
Cebu Pacific is a long-established Philippine low-cost airline with bases in Cebu and Manila. The company reaches destinations in the Philippines such as Iloilo, Manila, Ozamiz, Puerto Princesa, San Jose, and more.
Although this is a low-cost company, you can add pre-paid extras such as ordering hot or light meals and drinks, upgrading to an exit seat/reserving a seat/a seat with more legroom, etc. The availability of services varies by flight.
Cebgo
Cegbo is a Philippine airline, a local brand of Cebu Pacific, with a fleet of about 16 ATR aircraft.
Sunlight Air
A boutique company that operates flights within the Philippines with a fleet of ATR 72-500 aircraft reaches destinations such as Clark, Busuanga, Manila, and more.
AirSWIFT
A local boutique company that operates flights within the Philippines.
Flights within the Philippines from Manila
From Manila, you can reach a wide variety of destinations in the Philippines, from Cebu to Puerto Princesa and Davao City. You can take a direct domestic flight from Manila to almost anywhere in the Philippines that has an airport.
We used Kiwi’s price comparison to find cheap domestic flights from Manila. The search engine even allowed us to enter the destination as “the Philippines” and thus check which domestic destinations can be reached from Manila and sort them according to the attractions in the destination.
We found a variety of very cheap flights, which included, among others, the following destinations:
Cheap flights from Manila to Cebu from $18 one way, flights from Manila to Caticlan from $20 one way, flights from Manila to Tablas from $61 one way, flights from Manila to Surigao City from $24 one way, flights from Manila to Puerto Princesa from $18 one way and more. The cheapest prices usually do not include baggage allowance, but ticket conditions may vary.
Manila Ninoy Aquino Airport MNL is the largest airport in the country and is usually used as the gateway to the country for most international tourists. You can easily continue from there to a domestic flight and reach your next destination or spend a few days in Manila first. It has four terminals, so you should leave some time if you need to move between terminals before your domestic flight. Terminal 1 serves most international flights, Terminal 2 serves most Philippine Air flights, Terminal 3 serves both international and domestic flights, and Terminal 4 serves mostly domestic flights of local companies.
Flights within the Philippines from Cebu city
Cebu city is the second largest city in the Philippines and is also home to the second largest airport in the country, served by many domestic and international routes. Domestic flights from Cebu city reach a variety of destinations in the Philippines: Manila, Caticlan, Angeles, Davao City, Puerto Princesa, Iloilo, El Nido, Butuan, Zamboanga City and more.
Mactan Cebu Airport (CEB) is located in Lapu Lapu City and serves local airlines such as Cebu Pacific, Philippine Airlines, and more.
It is a beautiful and comfortable airport, with various essential services for the passenger, shops, restaurants, and more. It includes a domestic terminal and an international terminal. The domestic terminal has a variety of shops, a baggage wrapping service, lounges, an Italian restaurant, and more.
Here are just a few of the popular destinations for domestic flights from Cebu city and the cheapest prices we found by comparing the prices of Kiwi on each such airline:
One way and without baggage, a flight from Cebu city to Manila costs $20 (Philippines AirAsia) in September.
Flight ticket from Cebu ciry to Caticlan, one way in September at $20 with Philippines AirAsia without baggage allowance.
One-way flight from Cebu city to Davao City at the cost of $19 without baggage allowance in September with Philippines AirAsia.
The prices and conditions of the tickets are correct at the time of writing this article and may change from time to time.
Flights within the Philippines from Boracay
Domestic flights from Boracay do not land directly on the island. Still, the nearest airport in Caticlan has located a short ferry ride away from Boracay Island, only about ten minutes.
Panay, the airport of Boracay or by its official name Godofredo F. Ramos or Caticlan Airport (MPH), located in Caticlan on Panay Island, is one of two major airports serving Boracay. The other is Kalibo Airport.
Kalibo Airport (KLO) is located in Kalibo in Panay and serves a relatively limited number of flights from Manila and individual flights from South Korea.
Flights from Cebu to Boracay (Caticlan) depart several times a day and are operated by different companies: Philippines AirAsia, Cebu Pacific, and Philippine Airlines. Usually, the flights take off in the morning or afternoon from Cebu.
Flights from Manila to Boracay (Caticlan) depart several times a day (at least 20 flights a day), usually in the morning, noon or afternoon, and are operated by Cebu Pacific, Philippine Airlines, and Philippine Air Asia.
Direct flights from Manila to Kalibo depart several times a day, usually in the morning or afternoon but sometimes in the early evening, and are operated by Cebu Pacific, Philippines AirAsia, and Philippine Airlines.
By comparing prices for flights to Boracay (Kalibo/Caticoln) using the Kiwi website, departing from any destination in the Philippines, we got the cheapest price (one way) for a Philippine AirAsia flight from Manila to Kalibo at the cost of $19 (without baggage).
Flights within the Philippines from Palawan
The province of Palawan is one of the most famous and largest in the Philippines, and it is home to some of the most famous tourist destinations in the country, such as El Nido, Coron, and more.
It is home to several major airports, including El Nido Airport, Puerto Princesa Airport, Coron Airport, and more.
Internal flights in the Philippines from El Nido
One of the famous tourist destinations in the Philippines is El Nido which is located at the tip of the island of Palawan.
The closest airport from El Nido is El Nido Leo Airport (ENI), located close to the resorts and is served by direct flights from Manila and Cebu, operated by Airswift.
This special airport has a beautiful and open tropical design, and you can find an excellent small cafe, car rental, lounge, and more. Landing and taking off from El Nido airport is a special and recommended experience.
In addition, you can also land at the Puerto Princesa airport in the western part of Palawan and continue from there with a trip of about five hours, more or less, by van or taxi.
As mentioned, the flights from El Nido airport are operated by Airswift, a boutique company with a fleet of several ATR aircraft.
The company operates, as of the writing of the article, several daily flights from Manila to El Nido, which usually take off from Manila in the morning or afternoon.
The return flights from El Nido to Manila also take off several times a day, usually in the morning, noon and afternoon.
In addition, as of the writing of this article, Air Swift also operates flights from Cebu to El Nido on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays, as two flights from El Nido to Boracay (Caticlan) every week, and more.
Local flights in the Philippines from Coron
Coron is another destination that is particularly popular with bullies in Palawan. It consists of a group of islands and features beautiful beaches and tropical landscapes.
Coron is served by an airport called Francisco B. Rice (USU), otherwise known as Buswanga Airport. It is served by direct flights mainly from Cebu city and Manila.
Flights from Manila to Busuanga depart several times a day, usually in the morning and afternoon, and are mostly operated by Philippine Airlines and Cebu.
You can also find daily flights from Cebu City to Busuanga.
The flight time from Manila to Busuanga is about an hour and a quarter, and the flight time from Cebu City to Busuanga is about an hour and a half.
Domestic flights in the Philippines from Puerto Princesa
Puerto Princesa is the largest city in Palawan and the island’s capital. It is known for the underground river found there, in addition to a variety of attractions in the area, and is an excellent point to land to reach several other destinations in Palawan.
Puerto Princesa is served by the Puerto Princesa International Airport (PPS), mainly by domestic flights from Manila and Cebu and a limited number of international flights.
Direct flights from Puerto Princesa to Manila depart several times a day, from morning to evening, and are operated by Cebu Pacific, Philippine Airlines, and Philippine AirAsia.
Direct flights from from Puerto Princesa to Manila are operated daily by Cebu Pacific and several times a week by Philippine Airlines.
The Philippines Domestic Flights from Ilo Ilo
The province of Ilu Ilu is located in Western Visayas. It is a great destination from which you can go on spectacular island trips, visit impressive heritage sites, enjoy culture, exciting attractions, and more. Fortunately, this magical place in the Philippines is served by an airport, so it can be easily reached by domestic flight.
The Iloilo Airport (ILO) is located in Kabatoan, Iloilo, and serves the area. It is mainly served by domestic flights from Cebu and Manila, by several local airlines such as Cebu Pacific, Phillips Airlines, and Pal Express.
The Iloilo airport, about 24 km from Iloilo City, is the main gateway to the region and, in addition to domestic flights, it is also served by several individual international flights.
The flight from Manila to Ilo Ilo is about one hour and twenty minutes. On this line, there are usually over ten daily flights operated by Cebu Pacific, Philippine Airlines, and Philippine AirAsia. You can find flights on this line from morning to evening.
The flight time from Cebu to Iloilo is about an hour. On this line, there are usually three flights a day, operated by Philippine Airlines and Cebu, usually in the morning or afternoon (and also return in the afternoon).
Comparing the prices for domestic flights to Iloilo that we conducted on the Kiwi website, we found the following cheap prices (for a direct flight, without a specified date):
The cheapest price for a flight from Manila to Iloilo was received from Philippine AirAsia for August at $17 one way without baggage allowance.
The cheapest price for a flight from Cebu city to Iloilo was obtained from the Cebu company for one way in August at $22 without baggage allowance.
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