Flies its First Long Haul
8 November 2013
By Anjo Perez
Tempo
8 November 2013
By Anjo Perez
Tempo
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – The Arabian Gulf welcomed the resumption of fights of Philippine flag carrier Philippine Airlines Wednesday evening with the arrival of PAL Express (PALex) flight 2P658 at the Dubai International Airport.
The maiden voyage left Manila at 1 p.m., Wednesday, utilizing Airbus Industrie A330-300 (RP-C3332) wide-body jet which was specially configured to carry 325 passengers on “economy” and “premium economy” seats.
The inaugural flight signals the return of PAL to the UAE after the service was discontinued in 1997 during the Asian financial crisis.
PAL began its regular service to Dubai way back in 1982 with the first commercial flight between Dubai and Manila using thrice a week services of McDonnel Douglas DC-10s. Later on, Dubai became a regular stopover for Europe-bound PAL flights using Boeing 747 jumbo jets and the DC-10 tri-jets.
Initially, the PALex service between Dubai and Manila will be five times a week, progressing to daily flight service in the very near future.
Leading the flight crew on the maiden voyage was Capt. Jesus Garcia aided by First Officer Edward Chan and SO Elbert Celis, who made sure that the flight was smooth as possible from take off at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport until its arrival at the Dubai International Airport nine hours later.
However long the flight was, all 237 passengers onboard were pampered by the excellent service provided by the PALex cabin crew headed by flight purser Roberto Rilloraza.
The other crew members who made sure that everyone was comfortable as can be included Mark Pasana, Karlo Samala, Sherlock Santos, Arielle Ong, Kristine Arteza, Edna Engcong, Christine Reyes and Mary Catherine Villanueva. Adding assurance to the safety of the passengers was flight mechanic Custodio Penaranda.
Although the Dubai-Manila service is an all-economy flight, that didn’t stop the PALex cabin crew from pampering the passengers serving them with gourmet cuisine prepared by a team of Filipino and international chefs.
Other amenities that welcomed the passengers onboard the A330 jet includes wi-fi capability that enables internet browsing while in-flight and rentable mini-iPads pre-loaded with entertainment options like movies, music and games.
The maiden voyage left Manila at 1 p.m., Wednesday, utilizing Airbus Industrie A330-300 (RP-C3332) wide-body jet which was specially configured to carry 325 passengers on “economy” and “premium economy” seats.
The inaugural flight signals the return of PAL to the UAE after the service was discontinued in 1997 during the Asian financial crisis.
PAL began its regular service to Dubai way back in 1982 with the first commercial flight between Dubai and Manila using thrice a week services of McDonnel Douglas DC-10s. Later on, Dubai became a regular stopover for Europe-bound PAL flights using Boeing 747 jumbo jets and the DC-10 tri-jets.
Initially, the PALex service between Dubai and Manila will be five times a week, progressing to daily flight service in the very near future.
Leading the flight crew on the maiden voyage was Capt. Jesus Garcia aided by First Officer Edward Chan and SO Elbert Celis, who made sure that the flight was smooth as possible from take off at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport until its arrival at the Dubai International Airport nine hours later.
However long the flight was, all 237 passengers onboard were pampered by the excellent service provided by the PALex cabin crew headed by flight purser Roberto Rilloraza.
The other crew members who made sure that everyone was comfortable as can be included Mark Pasana, Karlo Samala, Sherlock Santos, Arielle Ong, Kristine Arteza, Edna Engcong, Christine Reyes and Mary Catherine Villanueva. Adding assurance to the safety of the passengers was flight mechanic Custodio Penaranda.
Although the Dubai-Manila service is an all-economy flight, that didn’t stop the PALex cabin crew from pampering the passengers serving them with gourmet cuisine prepared by a team of Filipino and international chefs.
Other amenities that welcomed the passengers onboard the A330 jet includes wi-fi capability that enables internet browsing while in-flight and rentable mini-iPads pre-loaded with entertainment options like movies, music and games.
Palex??? Pal aircraft, pal flight crew, pal cabin crew..... Should be PAL arrives in Dubai.
ReplyDeleteIts PAL aircraft, crew etc..to ensure high standard of safety and comfort..but because of inavailability of flight rights for full service provider aircraft like PAL such as airport slots for PAL..Dubai issued a flight rights for LCC airlines since only LCC,s have available airport slots in thier terminal..thats why the flight code is under PALex but the service is under PAL..only difference is that it has no Business class product..kasi kng meron it will be a foul on the PAL part hence the flight right is under PAL Ex which is a LCC airline..
ReplyDeletecorrect me if I am wrong. I do understand that they have code-share agreement with palex, but as far as I know, they can only sell tickets for the flight, and not actually fly the designated flight for palex. am I correct or wrong? If the CAB only allowed routes for PAL Express and Cebu Pacific, then this would be a violation by PAL since they used the route of their sister company which the route was approved by UAE DGCA and CAB. or there is something that I am missing.
ReplyDeletecorrect me if I am wrong. Code share agreement allows PAL to sell tickets for that same flight of PAL express. right?
ReplyDeleteBut is it allowed by CAB that the routes given to PAL Express be used by PAL ? since in the first place, CAB did not award the routes to PAL and gave it to 2P and 5J only.
is that even allowed by UAE DGCA and RP CAB? maybe I am missing something.
as far as I know, PAL aircraft, flight crew , inflight crew means PAL flights. and not flights of any other airline. unless they just used a certain loophole to get the slot and use PAL express rights to fly to Dubai
RP-C3332 is registered with PAL Express now. By Law, it is a PAL Express flight even if the cabin and flight crews are all PAL.
DeleteTry researching thoroughly first before making any comments. And, thanks for answering the "concern".
Deleteas of this time, and until PAL Express completes the training of the crew and after the other hindrances are overcome, Dubai is flown by PAL Express, through a wet lease agreement with Philippine Airlines.
ReplyDeleteis its true? theres is no IFE onboard??
ReplyDeleteI just would like to clarify.
ReplyDeletePAL Express is not an LCC. Its is a full service airline.
More like a reqional wing for PAL.
Like Dragonair, SilkAir and Thai Smile.