Philippine Airlines Starts Manila to Chicago Nonstops Today, With a 14-Hour Outbound and a 16 Hour 40 Minute Return
The carrier's first nonstop to O'Hare departs Manila this afternoon, three times a week. The timings, the aircraft and what the headwind does to the flight home.
Monday, November 9, 2026/2 min read
A long flight became a single flight on Monday. Philippine Airlines is scheduled to operate its first nonstop service between Manila and Chicago O'Hare today, 9 November, as flight PR132, the airline's first nonstop to Chicago.
The airline announced the route in April, and Great Travel Magazine reported at the time that it would run three times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, with an Airbus A350-900.
What is the Manila to Chicago flight schedule?
Per Simple Flying's route preview, PR132 leaves Manila at 4:40 pm and lands at O'Hare at 4:55 pm the same day, local time, on a scheduled block time of 14 hours 15 minutes. The return, PR133, leaves Chicago at 10:45 pm and arrives in Manila at 5:25 am the following morning, with a block time of about 16 hours 40 minutes.
The gap between the two legs is mostly wind. The westbound flight back across the Pacific flies into the prevailing headwinds, so the same route takes roughly two and a half hours longer. Travel And Tour World lists O'Hare's Terminal 5 and Manila's Terminal 1 as the terminals, and advises travellers to reconfirm them with the airline, since schedules are subject to change.
Why does the Chicago route matter?
Simple Flying says Chicago becomes Philippine Airlines' fifth mainland United States destination and eighth in the United States overall, alongside Honolulu, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, New York, Guam and Saipan. For travellers between Chicago and Manila, the practical change is one fewer connection on a journey that already runs most of a day.
The carrier is flying the A350-900, and no change to the three weekly frequencies has been confirmed in the sources reviewed for this piece.
How much does a Manila to Chicago ticket cost?
Fares move daily, so any figure is a snapshot. At the April announcement, Great Travel Magazine said round-trip economy fares started at US$667 for bookings made between 16 April and 31 May, an introductory offer that has since closed. Simple Flying notes that the A350-900 flies with business, premium economy and economy cabins, and the airline describes a full-service product with meals and a generous baggage allowance in every class.
What should passengers check before flying?
Timings above are the initial published schedule, and airlines adjust them. Anyone booked on the first services should confirm times, terminals and baggage allowances on the airline's own booking page, and allow for a flight of nearly 17 hours on the return leg when planning onward connections or a first day at work.
The first full week of flights will show how well the aircraft fill. For both cities, the question is whether three flights a week are the start of a bigger schedule or the whole of it.
Published in The Outspoken Digest
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