MANILA, Philippines, March 10, 2009 (AFP) - Philippine Airlines said Tuesday it is increasing flights to Canada, the United States and on key domestic routes despite a global crisis that is expected to dampen tourist traffic worldwide.

The flag carrier said its service to Vancouver, currently five times a week, will become a daily flight starting on March 23 to address the needs of a "sizeable Filipino migrant community in Canada" and to cater for the business and leisure segments of the market.

A statement from PAL said the new flights, on Mondays and Wednesdays, would not continue on to Las Vegas as the other services do but would operate on a turnaround basis.

The airline said it would also add a flight a week to both Los Angeles and San Francisco over the summer, taking weekly services to 10 and eight respectively for those cities.

Philippine Airlines said its budget carrier unit PAL Express will operate more domestic routes, particularly to island destinations, which are a big tourist draw.

PAL suffered a net loss of US$113.8 million ($176 million) in the first half of the current fiscal year to March 2009 due to a surge in fuel prices. -AFP