PAL sets flights to London for British travelers

Philippine Airlines (PAL) will be mounting two special flights from Manila to London’s Heathrow airport on Tuesday, April 7, the flag carrier said.

PAL, operated by PAL Holdings, Inc., said in a Sunday advisory that the British Embassy in Manila had arranged special flights to London for stranded British travelers.

“British travelers can purchase tickets through the dedicated booking portal set up by the Embassy,” PAL said.

The first flight to London is scheduled to depart at 12:00 noon on Tuesday, while the second flight is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.

“Both flights will use Boeing 777-300ER aircraft with a capacity of 370 seats and depart from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 2 for departure. All stated times are local times,” PAL said.

“Despite the ongoing pause in operations until April 14, PAL is operating these special one-off services to assist in flying stranded travelers home,” it added.

PAL, Cebu Air, Inc. (Cebu Pacific), Philippines AirAsia, Inc., Air Philippines Corp. (PAL Express), and Cebgo, Inc. have temporarily shut down their passenger operations until April 14 after Luzon was placed under enhanced community quarantine.

Over 30,000 flights were canceled, affecting nearly five million passengers, according to the Air Carriers Association of the Philippines.

The Transportation department said on Monday that from March 25 to April 4, 2020, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines had accommodated a total of 2,894 flights, which included commercial, general aviation, cargo, medical evacuation, sweeper flights, utility or maintenance flights, government flights, and military flights. — Arjay L. Balinbin