Philippine Airlines said Thursday it would begin flight to India in March, restarting the flag carrier’s services to South Asia after a break of more than 16 years.PAL said it would field wide-body Airbus A330-300 jets on six times weekly flights to New Delhi, half of them direct from Manila and the others routed through Bangkok.

The New Delhi flights would give the airline a presence in South Asia for the first time since 1994 and were made possible after the Indian government relaxed visa rules to attract more Filipino visitors, it said in a statement.The airline currently serves 26 points in 15 countries and territories, apart from 20 domestic destinations.