PAL operations continue despite typhoon ‘Frank’

MANILA, Philippines - Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) said that typhoon “Frank" did not prevent the airliner from operating and bringing passengers to both their domestic and international destinations. With the exception of two regular jet flights to Kalibo and six turbo-propeller PAL Express flights, PAL operated its entire schedule of domestic and international services Sunday, albeit with unavoidable delays as the typhoon roared through the capital, PAL said in a statement. PAL was scheduled to operate 45 domestic jet services for 17 provincial points Sunday. As of press time, the flag carrier had already dispatched 33 of those flight. Likewise, all 29 PAL international flights from Manila and two from Cebu scheduled Sunday were operated or planned to be operated, again with inevitable delays due to the weather disturbance. There were no cancellations of scheduled international services. The only cancellations for the jet operations were domestic flights PR 321 and PR 325, both bound for Kalibo, owing to debris-clearing operations at the airport runway there. The return flights were also scrapped. Likewise canceled were five of eight PAL Express flights to Caticlan, as well as the single daily service to Busuanga. Their respective return flights were also called off. All other PAL Express flights from the turbo-prop unit’s Manila and Cebu hubs were operated or planned to be operated as scheduled, although with expected delays. Around 6 a.m., eight early-morning PAL jet flights to various Visayas-Mindanao destinations were able to leave Manila, but their return trips were held at their respective points as pilots awaited clearance from airport authorities. All eight flights returned safely to Manila after a delay of between one and two hours. Also, four incoming international flights, all scheduled for dawn or early-morning touchdowns in Manila, were diverted to Cebu to wait out the storm’s passing. These were flights PR 115 from San Francisco, originally expected to arrive at 4 a.m.; PR 105 from San Francisco, 5:25 a.m.; PR 103 from Los Angeles, 5:55 a.m.; and PR 111 from Guam, 7:45 a.m. All four flights were eventually cleared to proceed to Manila at around 8:30 a.m. On Friday, PAL canceled 13 domestic jet flights to Western Visayas and Northern Mindanao as typhoon “Frank" cut a swathe through central Philippines. All nine PAL Express flights from Manila and five out of seven services from Cebu were likewise scrapped. Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) general manager Alfonso Cusi ordered the cancellation of all flights for domestic destinations to avoid accidents. But he said operations are expected to return to normal after 3 p.m. GMANews.TV