Flying into the Future
PAL is moving forward after emerging from a destructive global pandemic. Asia’s first airline continues to innovate and enhance its products as part of a strategy of digital transformation and progressive network expansion – while serving the travel needs of Filipinos as well as businesspeople, tourists and families from all over the world.
2020's Milestones
Most of 2020 and 2021, starting in March 2020
The COVID-19 global pandemic forced the cancellation of thousands of flights by all airlines to and within the Philippines, at the start of a prolonged lockdown that restricted air travel for two years. PAL slowly restored its network of routes and flights in 2020 and 2021, while operating thousands of repatriation flights and all-cargo missions to serve urgent travel and transport needs as an economic, social and public health lifeline for the Philippines. PAL introduced a comprehensive Fly Safe program of services to allow for safe and controlled travel by air despite the pandemic.
October 14-15, 2020
PAL notched another first in Philippine aviation when an all-female flight crew operated a widebody aircraft on a long-haul route. The A330 flight between Manila and Riyadh was flown by Capt. Yvonne Sunga, First Officer May Marie Segovia and Second Officer Marie Rose Maximo.
March 02, 2021
PAL was the first local carrier to transport anti-COVID vaccines by air to Cebu and Davao, part of a donation from the Chinese Government.
March 24, 2021
PAL became the first Philippine carrier to airlift life-saving vaccines into the Philippines, using a Boeing 777-300ER to carry 400,000 Sinovac doses from Beijing. The Great Vaccine Airlift of 2021 and 2022 was a major effort by the flag carrier to support the country's healing and recovery from the pandemic.
July 07, 2021
PAL used Subic International Airport as an alternative gateway to fly in more repatriating Filipinos. PR5683 from Dammam carried 297 returning OFWs and non-OFWs into Subic. PAL also operated international flights to Cebu, Clark, Laoag, Davao and Bohol (Panglao) from various points in the Middle East, U.S., Canada, Europe and all over Asia to bring more Filipinos home, as government-imposed limits restricted arrivals in Manila.
July 15, 2021
PAL operated a nonstop flight from Dhaka to Davao with A321neo aircraft, carrying 137 seafarers and their families home. PAL’s partnership with government and private sector entities led to repatriation flights in 2020 and 2021 from Barbados, Milan, Tunis, Algiers, Beirut, New Delhi, Dili (Timor Leste), Miami, London, Jeddah, Lahore and various other global points, providing a vital lifeline for Filipinos yearning to return home.
July 28, 2021
PAL flew members of the victorious Philippine Olympic team home to Manila, including Filipino weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz who successfully clinched the Philippines’ first Olympic gold medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Diaz became PAL's first Forever Flyer, receiving 80,000 miles per year.
August 02, 2021
PAL was the first Asian airline recognized by the Hawaii government as a COVID safety partner, exempting PAL passengers from quarantine upon arrival in Honolulu as long as they showed negative RT-PCR test results.
August 19, 2021
PAL mounted the biggest vaccine airlift by a Filipino carrier, flying in a massive shipment of 3 million vaccines onboard a B777-300ER from Beijing.
September 03, 2021
PAL voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 financial restructuring in the United States to secure its recovery from the impact of the global pandemic. The airline sustained uninterrupted international and domestic operations during the restructuring period.
December 31, 2021
PAL emerged from its voluntary Chapter 11 process in a record time of four months, having secured new financing from shareholders and overwhelming support from creditors, partners and its united work force.
January 31, 2022
PAL appointed Capt. Stanley Ng as its President and Chief Operating Officer, the first pilot to hold the top management position since the 1960s.
February 10, 2022
The Philippines re-opened to leisure and business traffic under new regulations that welcomed fully-vaccinated foreign travelers back into the country.
May 06, 2022
PAL received the "Asia Pacific Restructuring Deal of the Year" Award for the success of its Chapter 11 restructuring process, granted by leading finance and leasing publication Airline Economics.
June 09, 2022
PAL inaugurated the first airline route within the new Bangsamoro autonomous region in Mindanao, operating between Cotabato and Tawi-Tawi with a 180-seater Airbus A320.
November 10, 2022
PAL operated a series of flights between Clark and Busan.
November 11, 2022
PAL resumed daily Clark - Seoul Incheon services with the Airbus A321CEO, helping to re-establish Clark’s role as a thriving Central Luzon hub.
December 01, 2022
PAL mounted direct flights between Cebu and Cotabato with onward connections to Tawi-Tawi, utilizing Dash 8 400 aircraft.
December 09, 2022
PAL resumed direct flights between Cebu and Bangkok
December 16, 2022
PAL made a historic comeback to its first-ever destination, Baguio City – this time with a pioneering two-hour flight from Cebu that is the first direct air link between Baguio and the Visayas-Mindanao region.
December 19, 2022
The airline pioneered a twice-weekly service to Borongan, Eastern Samar, another first from PAL’s Cebu hub.
March 27, 2023
PAL returned to Perth with thrice-weekly non-stop flights from Manila. The PAL inaugural flight to the West Australian capital was commanded by its President & COO, Capt. Stanley Ng, another historical first.
May 25, 2023
PAL Holdings Inc. (PHI) appointed Lucio Tan III as its President & COO. Dr. Lucio C. Tan continues to serve as PHI Chairman and CEO.
June 20 , 2023
PAL officially signed a major purchase order for nine Airbus A350-1000 long-haul jetliners at the Paris Air Show. The most advanced aircraft in the Philippine fleet is set to arrive in 2025.
October 29, 2023
PAL inaugurated a daily Airbus A320 service between Manila and Tuguegarao, marking a comeback to Cagayan Province in Northern Luzon.