To celebrate its 70th anniversary, Philippine Airlines will give away 70,000 free tickets. Nowadays, as the largest airline in the Philippines, Philippine Airlines owns 41 jetliners flying to 44 cities both at home and abroad. By the end of this month, two other oversea cities—Brisbane and Riyadh, will be added into the international flight network of Philippine Airlines. In 2009, the passenger traffic volume of Philippine Airlines exceeded 8.96 million, increasing by 17.1% over the previous year. Lin Yingming, sales manager in Beijing area of Philippine Airlines introduced that passengers who buy tickets in the Philippines and through the website of Philippine Airlines can participate in this lottery activity, with the prize being a free ticket for the same route as the purchased ticket. The lottery will be held once a month for 9 months, and 16,000 people will be drawn. The prizes include free tickets, which are for the same routes as the purchased tickets. On March 15, 2011, when Philippine Airlines celebrates its 70th anniversary, 3,000 lucky passengers will be able to take a free trip. "We would like to remind tourists to purchase tickets via the official website of Philippine Airlines and try to leave contact telephone numbers so that our staff can get in touch with passengers in time," he said. It is reported that apart from giving away free tickets, Philippine Airlines will also launch promotional activities including "anniversary special price" discount tickets for high-star hotels in Shanghai and "free trip to the Philippines" overseas promotion. Philippine Airlines was established on February 16, 1941, invested by a group of famous Filipino entrepreneurs. On March 15, 1941, a Beech Model 18 aircraft carried five passengers taking off from Nielsen Airport in Makati, flying to Baguio. This flight made Philippine Airlines the first airline in Asia. Philippine Airlines simultaneously announced in Beijing, Manila and other places that to celebrate its upcoming 70th anniversary of establishment in March 2011, it will launch a series of promotional activities in 2010. 70,000 free tickets of Philippine Airlines around the world will be given away in the form of lottery sales. From March 16 to December 31, 2010, passengers will have the chance to win by booking on the Philippine Airlines website.