23 September 2016 — Mr. Jaime Bautista, President and Chief Operating Officer of Philippine Airlines (PAL), and Mr. David Maimon, President and Chief Executive Officer of EL AL Israel Airlines (EL AL), signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to bolster cooperation between the two top airlines on September 20 at the EL AL Main Office in Tel Aviv.  

In his remarks, Mr. Bautista said that with a growing travel market, PAL is happy to be part of a cooperation agreement with EL AL. More passengers are planning to visit Israel. He added that the tourism programs that are being developed by the Philippines and Israel will certainly contribute to more traffic between the two countries. He also conveyed the company’s hope that the MOU signing will herald sustainable market growth and furthering of relations between PAL and EL AL. 

For his part, Mr. Maimon said the MOU is a way to look forward to the long-term plans of extending deeper cooperation between PAL and EL AL and to explore what the two flag carriers can do together to bring more tourists from the Philippines to Israel and vice versa. 

Philippine Ambassador to Israel Neal Imperial, who witnessed the signing, hailed the MOU as an important step in bringing Filipinos and Israelis closer through better air links. He said that the cooperation between the two premier flag carriers will sustain the boom in tourism between the two countries, following the signing of an air services agreement between the two countries in 2014. 

Tourist arrivals from Israel grew by 34% in 2015 and about 36% for the first half of 2016, making it the third largest tourism market of the Philippines in the Middle East. END