03 December 2013 - The Philippines’ official flag carrier, Philippine Airlines (PAL), made its much-awaited inaugural non-stop Manila-Riyadh-Manila flight on December 01. The twin-engine Airbus 330-300 with flight number PR 564 was operated by Captain Jose Reginald David, assisted by Captain Ruel V. Isaac and Second Officer Erik Lee Isaac landed at the King Khalid International Airport at 2:01 p.m. carrying 376 passengers from Manila.
Philippine Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ezzedin H. Tago was at the airport to welcome the passengers and the crew onboard the PAL flight, together with PAL and Saudi immigration officials.
The inaugural ceremony started at the check-in counter at King Khalid International Airport’s Terminal 1. The check-in counter opened at 11:30 a.m. followed by a ribbon-cutting ceremony led by Ambassador Tago with Mr. Otham Al Zamil, Director for Operations and Fire Service and by the airport’s Manager for Terminal Operations, Mr. Ali Al Rashid. They were assisted by PAL officials based in Riyadh.
During the event, Ambassador Tago said, “We are very happy to welcome the Philippine Airlines back to Saudi Arabia, with today’s flights to and from Riyadh and on 3 December to and from Dhahran. I hope the return of the Philippine Airlines to the Kingdom will restore further interest in the Philippines among Saudi tourists and provide a more familiar travel option to our kababayans (nationals) in Saudi Arabia”.
PAL’s most recent foray into the Saudi Arabian airline market appears to be very successful, with most flights in December 2013 already fully-booked. The return flight of PR 655 is fully booked with 391 passengers.
Aside from Riyadh, PAL will also make its inaugural flight at the King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, Eastern Province on December 03.
Tourism to the Philippines from Saudi Arabia has increased steadily over the past three years, with the Philippines increasing its tourism promotion activities in the Gulf region, especially in Saudi Arabia.
Flights from Riyadh will leave every Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 1:30 p.m. The flights from Dammam will leave every Monday, Tuesday and Saturday.
The General Services Agent for the Philippine Airlines in Riyadh is Al-Tayyar Travel, while it is Kanoo Travel in Dammam.
PAL first started flying to and from Saudi Arabia on July 03, 1982, landing in Dhahran International Airport.
As part of the tradition forinaugural flights, the PAL flight was showered with water from fire trucks as it taxied on the tarmac heading to its assigned gate. END