PAL to do emergency flights to Libya?

[Evodesire]

Will PAL be having emergency flights to Libya to rescue our countrymen there?

[jetsetexpress]

It was mentioned in the papers that they are already talking to the government.

[Evodesire]

Nice! For sure they wont be landing in Libya itself right? Wondering where they will be landing?

[markpaul]

Natuloy ba ito?

[Evodesire]

They are just waiting for landing rights and they are choosing a safe place to land. I wonder which aircraft will be utilized. 747s maybe?

[jetsetexpress]

First flight left na daw according to Bandila. The flight is due back on Thursday.

[Evodesire]

^^^Nice! And they are utilizing a 77W! Also, this would be the longest flight of the 77W after its delivery flight.

08 March 2011
PAL flies to Crete to pick up Filipinos fleeing Libya

MANILA - A Philippine Airlines (PAL) Boeing 777 aircraft took off at 10:03 this evening from NAIA Centennial Terminal 2 for a 12-hour direct flight to Crete, Greece, to pick up Filipinos fleeing the turmoil in Libya.

Manned by a contingent of veteran management crew, the special PAL flight (PR 008) chartered by the Department of Labor and Employment will bring home close to 400 Filipinos currently awaiting repatriation at the Heraklion Airport located in the Greek island of Crete. So far, this is the biggest group of Filipinos that will be ferried back home using a single aircraft.

The special repatriation flight will arrive in Crete at 5:41 am (Greece time) and will go through the usual ground handling procedures including refueling. The B777 is expected to depart Greece tentatively at 7:30 am (Greece time/March 9) and to arrive Manila at 1:10 am March 10.

The PAL evacuation flight is the result of close coordination efforts between the flag carrier and officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Labor and Employment. Coordination efforts were needed in securing overfly and landing permits, including ground handling arrangements.

The pilots comprising the flight deck crew includes: Capt. Francis Gregory Narciso, Capt. Armistes Cruz, Capt. Edgardo Diaz, First Officer Hilario Lagmay, First Officer Emmanuel Lacson, First Officer Mark Anthony Fernandez and Second Officer Onofre Alzate.

The management cabin attendants are: Muniera Santos, Ena Penaverde, Ruby Manzano, Wesley Calfoforo, Nancy Diago, Thea Tee, Anna Zuniga, Loida Teopaco, Divine de Gracia, Oliver Samala, Steve Teves, Elsa Yuzon, and Ed Regencia.

[romanticguy08]

10 March 2011
PAL brings home planeload of OFWs
www.philippineairlines.com/news/pal_brings_ofw.jsp


The first repatriation flight dispatched by Philippine Airlines (PAL) to Crete, Greece, arrived early this morning (March 10) with PAL President Jaime J. Bautista and PAL executive vice president Vivienne K. Tan joining government officials in welcoming 368 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), the single biggest batch of Filipinos to be ferried home on a full-load PAL aircraft.

The PAL Boeing 777 aircraft carrying 355 OFWs and 13 infants touched down at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at 12:57 AM after a non-stop 11-hour flight from Heraklion Airport, Crete. The flight included two sets of pilots, 13 management cabin attendants and four technical crew.

A second repatriation flight that departed Manila 8:00 AM Wednesday (March 9) with another batch of 366 OFWs is expected arrive before noon today, bringing to more than 700 the repatriated Filipinos flown by PAL.

PAL, in close coordination with the departments of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and Labor and Employment (DOLE), was able to deploy its two long-range B777 aircraft to repatriate OFWs after securing special permits for humanitarian reasons from different countries in order to overcome a prevailing ban on all Philippine carriers from flying anywhere in Europe imposed in March 2010 by the European Union.

When the Libyan crisis erupted, PAL prepared immediately for the repatriation flights chartered by DOLE, securing the necessary overfly and landing permits, including ground handling arrangement, while waiting for government’s detailed instructions where and when to pick up the distressed Filipinos.

As the pioneer national flag carrier, PAL had operated on many occasions special flights to evacuate Filipinos in troubled areas, including, among others: the 2008 social unrest in Bangkok, Thailand; the 1990 first Gulf War – the largest todate encompassing 30 flights and more than 10,000 evacuated Filipinos; the 1989 war in Lebanon; and the 1980 Iran-Iraq war that displaced more than a thousand Filipinos who fled to Jordan and Kuwait.

[Evodesire]

Kudos to Philippine Airlines!

[Evodesire]

Now that PAL is using two of its 777s for the repatriation of OFWs and Crete is a 12 hour flight, what would be the temporary schedules for Tokyo and Sydney, those making use of the 777s? Are they back first to A330s for the mean time?

[Evodesire]

RP-C7777 in Crete. I can just imagine the faces of our OFWs when they see a nice 777 with a huge PHILIPPINES on it. Their smiles signifying "Im going home"