PAL to start non-stop flights to Middle East this month

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) on Wednesday announced it will start operating “all non-stop” flights to and from Manila and seven points in the Middle East this month.

In an emailed statement, PAL said that beginning on March 26, it will operate non-stop flights from Manila to the following destinations: Doha and Kuwait (four flights per week); Jeddah and Abu Dhabi (thrice a week); Dammam (five times a week); and Riyadh (seven times a week).

“The non-stop service will give us a better product to offer our kababayans, our overseas Filipino workers,” PAL President and COO Jaime J. Bautista said.

“With the non-stop operations to Manila, travellers from the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia will now have direct and non-stop travel to the Philippines and connections to other international destinations PAL flies to,” the company said.

In the same statement, PAL also said it will shift aircrafts to the bi-class carriers in the second half of the year.

From the all-economy 414-seater Airbus A330, the company will employ the bi-class A330 bound for Dubai on June 15, bound for Abu Dhabi and Doha on July 15, bound for Riyadh on August 15, and bound for Kuwait and Jeddah on September 15.

“The shift to bi-class service across all mid-east routes gives our passengers the flexibility to choose between regular economy, premium economy and business class service,” Bautista said. —Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas/JST, GMA News