A Philippine Airlines Boeing 777 received a water salute for its first flight to Seattle. Footage shows the Philippines' flag carrier RP-C7778 arriving at Seattle–Tacoma International Airport as two trucks sprayed an arch over it in Washington on October 3.

SEATTLE - Starting Oct. 2, Philippine Airlines (PAL) will launch nonstop flights from Manila to Seattle, marking the first direct air connection between the Philippines and the Pacific Northwest. The airline says the service addresses tourism and the sizable Filipino American population in Washington and Oregon.

Analysts say the cutbacks in direct flights between the two countries come amid geopolitical tensions and the ban on Chinese-linked online casinos in the Philippines. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) announced that Philippine Airlines is offering three weekly flights—Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. The 14-hour flights from Seattle to Manila leave at 11:40 p.m., and the 11.5-hour return flights leave at 10:40 p.m. Manila time.

Onboard the A350-900, 295 seats are offered on each flight. Due to the schedule this month, there will be 3,835 seats (JFK to MNL) and 4,130 seats (MNL to JFK). Overall, this represents 32,647,355 available seat miles (ASMs).

FLAG carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) said Thursday it had started nonstop flights to Seattle. The inaugural flight, PR 124, departed from Manila on October 2 for the 12-hour journey to Tacoma International Airport.