MANILA, Philippines – Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) is all set to fly directly to the United Kingdom starting November, the top official of the airline said yesterday.
PAL will start flying to Heathrow Airport starting Nov. 4 using Boeing 777-300ERs, PAL President and Chief Operating Officer Ramon S. Ang confirmed in a text message.
The move comes after the European Union lifted in early July the ban it imposed on Philippine carriers in 2009 over safety concerns. In the press briefing announcing the lifting of the ban on PAL, Mr. Ang had said that the carrier plans to fly to Amsterdam, London, Paris and Rome starting next quarter.
Aviation think tank Center for Asia-Pacific Aviation had said in an earlier analysis that PAL faces challenges in trying to carve out a sustainable niche in the Southeast Asia-Europe market as it will run against three much larger Southeast Asian carriers as well as more established European and Gulf competitors.
PAL Holdings, Inc., which operates PAL, saw losses widen by 32.9% to P499.847 million in the first quarter of its April-March fiscal year from P376.006 million in the same three-month period in 2012, due to less passenger revenues.
