Free Flight For Life

PAL, AirAsia Awards "Forever Free Flights" to Diaz

29 July 2021

Olympic champion Hidilyn Diaz can now travel the world anytime for free her entire life as Philippine Airlines and AirAsia Philippines rewarded the weightlifter with lifetime free flights.

After her historic victory at the Tokyo Olympics that gave the Philippines its first-ever Olympic gold medal, Diaz received hefty prizes, including the 80,000 miles per year for life from the flag carrier PAL.

According to the PAL’s Facebook page, this makes Diaz the first “forever flyer” of the airline.

"We will forever honor this feat by giving Miss Diaz 80,000 free miles per year, for life—making her not only the first Filipina Olympic gold medalist, but Philippine Airlines’ first forever flyer as well," PAL added.

Meanwhile, AirAsia Philippines was the first to share the good news with the Pinay athlete, awarding her lifetime free flights.

The budget carrier previously gave Diaz an unlimited flight pass for five years when she copped the silver in the 2016 Rio Games.

“We in AirAsia would like to congratulate Hidilyn for her wonderful achievement of representing our country and earning our very first Gold medal in the Olympics. We thank Hidilyn for being an inspiration to the Filipino people and for uplifting our spirits,” the airlines Philippine CEO Ricky Isla said.

Bicol Airport Takes First Flight

As CAAP Calibrates Airside Facilities

 28 July 2021

 

 

PAL Logs Another Milestone with A321Neo

Flies Dhaka to Davao Non-stop

20 July 2021

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) has flown 2300nmi to fly 138 repatriated overseas foreign workers (OFWs) home from Dhaka to Davao City where they undergo quarantine last Thursday July 17. PAL Airbus A321Neo aircraft is capable of reaching major cities in India and Australia from Manila. This is the second time PAL flew repatriation flight to the Bangladesh capital, the first one having been made last year on July 27 transporting 160 passengers for a return flight to Manila.

Clark Outdo Cebu As Best Airport In Country

 18 July 2021

 

Clark International Airport Terminal 2 in Pampanga is ready for business as it opens the best facility in the country as it offers the first contactless facility in the Philippines. 

The new terminal which can handle eight (8) million passengers has contactless check-in counters and contactless baggage check-in counters. It also boast the first contactless ordering system in terminal restaurants, silent policy, gender-inclusive restrooms, and advanced aircraft visual docking system in the Philippines.

The new terminal also boast the first Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) lounge for free to Filipinos working abroad.

Terminal 2 is expected to be connected to an airport express railway line to Manila in 2025 in less than 1 hour of travel time.

Franke Takes CEB Board Seat, Control of Airline

CEB Officially Becomes Subsidiary of Indigo Partners

 

16 July 2021 

 

Philippine Low Cost Carrier (LCC) Cebu Air Inc. is now officially an Indigo Partners subsidiary after the airline approves its convertible investment with the airline operator.

 

Together with investment approval is the appointment of new director in the name of Brian Franke from Indigo Partners LLC who acts as its managing partner.

He will be replacing Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng seat who had stepped down as company Director according to stock exchange filing yesterday.

Franke was Chairman and CEO of America West Airlines from 1993 to 2001, Chairman of Singapore-based Tiger Airways from 2004 to 2009, and Chairman of Spirit Airlines from July 2006 to August 2013. He then served as a member of the Frontier Airlines board of directors since December 2013.

He has been a principal of Indigo Partners LLC, a private equity fund focused on air transportation since 2004.

Indigo partners LCC has infused US$250 million investment in the form of convertible bonds together with International Finance Corporation (IFC), which is part of the World Bank, and an affiliate of the American private equity firm Indigo Partners, into ailing Cebu Pacific last April 16.

The number of underlying shares for the convertible bonds is 318.75 million common shares priced at PHP38 pesos (USD0.79) each. The closing of the transaction is “subject to post-signing deliverables, which the parties completed last month.

The bonds are part of a USD500 million capital raising effort Cebu Pacific Air announced in October 2020 to bolster its balance sheet amid the Covid-19 crisis. The company sustained a PHP22.2 billion (USD459 million) net loss for 2020, having carried just five million passengers during the year, down 78% from 2019.

Cebu Pacific is the fifth low cost airline funded by Indigo Partners, joining the ranks of Frontier Airlines, Volaris, Wizz Air, and JetSMART.

 

 

Indigo Partners is funding acquisition of all incoming aircraft of Cebu Pacific starting with the procurement of its latest Airbus A321neo aircraft.

Subic Comes Back To Life

8 July 2021

@flyPAL PR5683 landing at Subic Bay International Airport @bayanmo @ABSCBNNews @gmanews @rapplerdotcom pic.twitter.com/T8897ikZit

— Rick Hunter (@PoorPilot) July 7, 2021

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) is bringing Subic Bay International Airport (SBIA) on Wednesday back to life as it brought home 299 returning Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) from Dammam, KSA, marking the first time that a passenger flight formally arrived at the airport since 2011.

 

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma described PAL’s OFW flight as “a momentous occasion, as it marked the first time that the Subic airport served as an alternate entry point for OFWs wanting to return to the Philippines.” 

 

“This is also the first time that a commercial flight arrived here in Subic after a decade of drought, the last one being the Astro Air flight that arrived here in 2011,” Eisma recalled. 

 

The flight Wednesday was the second of six flights rerouted by PAL to Subic this month under the government’s reepatriation program to facilitate the return of overseas Filipinos during the pandemic. 

 

The first PAL flight that was supposed to arrive Monday in Subic but was rerouted to Clark Freeport Zone due to strong tailwinds, the SBMA said. 

 

The plane also originated from Dammam and carried 309 OFWs, two seamen, and one ROF.

 

The other PAL flights expected to arrive at SBIA are on July 15, 17, 25, and 27, with an average of 230 passengers in each of the PAL Airbus A330-300 aircraft.

 

Eisma said the OFW flights to Subic are in line with the policy of the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) to impose a limit for all international airports in the country to accommodate just 1,500 passengers per day. 

 

Because of this, PAL has distributed its flights to various airports to accommodate the market, she noted.

Newly Acquired PAF C-130 Down

 4 July 2021

A newly acquired C-130 aircraft of the Philippine Air Force with tail #5125 from the 222nd Airlift Squadron of the 220th Airlift Wing based in Mactan crashed on final at Jolo airport killing 17 soldiers and officials Sunday Morning. Death toll rose to 50 in the evening, including three (3) civilians on the ground.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Gen. Cirilito Sobejana said a C-130 aircraft crashed in Brgy. Bangkal, Patikul, Sulu at 11:30 a.m.

Department of National Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana confirmed that the aircraft was carrying 92 people, including three pilots and five crew members while the others were Army personnel reporting for duty.

PAF Public Affairs Chief Lt. Col. Maynard Mariano said the aircraft with tail number 5125 “took off from Colonel Jesus Villamor Air Base, Pasay City to Lumbia Airport, Cagayan de Oro City and subsequently ferried personnel to Jolo, Sulu.”

Eyewitnesses at Jolo airport described the ill fated plane to have approached the touchdown marker of  runway 09 too high and floated longer than usual prompting tower personnel to order the plane to go around but it failed to generate enough lift to do go around procedure and avoid the hill beyond runway 27 resulting to its crash some kilometer away from the airport's runway. The airport only uses runway 27 for take-off.

At least 40 servicemen have been rescued and brought to a hospital at 11th Infantry Division in Busbus, Sulu and later airlifted by US helicopter to Westmincom Hospital in Zamboanga City.

The Lockheed C-130 Hercules was one of two ex-U.S. Air Force aircraft handed over to the Philippines as part of military assistance this year delivered in January and accepted on February 12, 2021 by no less than President Rodrigo R. Duterte.

The Philippine Air Force (PAF) acquired two refurbished Lockheed C-130H "Hercules" four-engine turboprop military transport/cargo aircraft in 2019 to add to its existing fleet of five (5) C-130s under the 222nd Airlift Squadron of the 220th Airlift Wing.

The former US Air Force C-130H Hercules built in 1987 and was used by the USAF Special Operations Command (AFSOC) until 2016 where it was stored at Davis Monthan airbase and brought back into service for the Philippine Air Force in 2021. 

LOCKHEED MARTIN C-13O HERCULES DATA

- Aircraft Model: C-130H
- Tail Number: 87-9284 (USAF)
- Year Manufacturer Model: 1987
- Serial number: 382-5125
- Engines: 4
- Seats: 97
- Location: OH, United States

- New operator: Philippine Air Force
- Tail Number: 5125 (PAF)
- Year Transferred: January 2021
- Serial number: 382-5125
- Airforce Unit: 222nd Airlift Squadron of the 220th Airlift Wing
- Location: Mactan Airbase, Cebu