VANCOUVER — Several hundred travel agents gathered at the Vancouver Four Seasons Hotel to celebrate the re-entry of Philippine Airlines (PAL) into the New York market with the first aircraft set to depart March 15 from Vancouver International Airport.

They were feted with a buffet dinner, singers Erik Santos and Joey Albert, and presentations on the new service that is using Airbus A340-300 aircraft which seat 218 in economy and 36 in business class with seats that can convert to flat beds. The aircraft also offer a range of entertainment capability including inflight WiFi.

PAL’s Canadian manager Allan Coo said the service is four times a week to Terminal One at JFK International Airport. Flight 126 out of Manila will leave every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday at 11:50 p.m. arriving in Vancouver the same day at 8:50 p.m. for a two-hour stopover before continuing on to New York to land at 7 a.m. the next morning. Return flight PR 127 leaves New York at 11 a.m. every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, arriving in Vancouver at 1:50 p.m. for a two-hour stopover before leaving at 3:20 p.m. to return to Manila at 8:35 p.m. the following day.

The New York flights brings to five the number of the carrier’s U.S. destinations which also include Los Angeles, San Francisco, Honolulu and Guam.

After March 15, the daily service between Manila and Vancouver will increase to 11 flights a week with a broader range of departure times (mid afternoon, early and late evening) out of Manila. The Manila to Toronto flight will add a fourth frequency.

Coo said that the codeshare agreement with WestJet includes Montreal, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg.

“We are hoping to add more Canadian cities working with WestJet,” Coo said, adding the codeshare agreement will also allow Canadians to travel one system out of Canada to Manila and onward to some 30 islands that PAL serves domestically.