Dubai: Starting Sunday, March 29, Philippine Airlines will operate the daily service between Dubai and Manila currently being flown by PAL Express, the company announced in a statement.
PAL’s Dubai-Manila sector is now designated as PR 659 (from the old 2P 2659 of PAL Express) and the Manila-Dubai sector as PR 658 (from 2P 2658).
However, all flight departure and arrival times in both Dubai and Manila are unchanged.
PAL will continue to operate the new-generation Airbus A330-300 aircraft to Dubai. While the current all-economy class variant of the A330-300 will be retained initially, PAL said it continues to review its fleet plan with a view to eventually deploying its two-class A330-300 with a modern business class cabin on the Dubai route.
The changes are part of the PAL Group’s rationalisation plan where PAL flies all international routes and PAL Express operates purely domestic services.
Meanwhile, PAL has instituted a number of interim adjustments to its schedule for the Middle East network, including the UAE, for the northern summer season beginning March 29.
Frequency from and to Dubai will temporarily decrease by a day to six times weekly, with the Tuesday flight not operating from April 15 to November 30, as part of PAL’s flight operation optimisation.
From Abu Dhabi, the erstwhile daily service will momentarily drop to five times weekly from April 8 to November 29 (except on April 29), with the Wednesday and Sunday frequencies suspended during this period.
Today, PAL is the largest Filipino carrier serving the UAE, with 11 flights weekly between Manila and the federation’s largest cities, Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
Temporary reductions
PAL assured that all schedule reductions are temporary and will be restored at the onset of the high winter travel season on December 1, 2015.
Philippine Airlines was the first airline to link Dubai and Manila when it launched a twice-weekly McDonnell Douglas DC-10 service to the emirate on August 7, 1982, nearly 33 years ago.
In June 1992, PAL also became the first airline to link Abu Dhabi and Manila.
Today, PAL is the largest Filipino carrier serving the UAE, with 11 flights weekly between Manila and the federation’s largest cities, Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
