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Monday, 20 June 2016 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Philippine Airlines Cargo (PAL), represented in Sri Lanka by GSA Delmege Aviation Services Ltd., a subsidiary of Delmege Forsyth & Co. Ltd. is on the cusp of celebrating a monumental achievement of two successful years of offline operation in Sri Lanka.
Founded in 1941, PAL as it is known in aviation circles is the first and oldest commercial airline in Asia and celebrates its 75 years of existence this year. The national flag carrier is now aiming even higher with an ambitious goal to achieve the status of a five-star airline by 2020.
Since its inception PAL has grown to service 31 destinations within the Philippines as well as 41 overseas destinations in South East Asia, East Asia, Middle East, Oceania, North America and Europe. In early 2016, PAL launched flights between Manila to Doha and Kuwait via Dubai and a flight from Cebu to Los Angeles. PAL has also acquired 6 Airbus A350-900 aircraft with the intention of operating these on non-stop flights to New York and the West coast of the USA. Apart from this the airline is set to replace its A340 Fleet with new either A350 XWBs or B787 Dreamliners. Additionally PAL confirm in print of upgrades to the more advanced B777-300ER for flights to New York. Philippine Airlines will be investing heavily in in-flight technology and the reconfiguration of its existing fleet of aircraft as part of the strategic plan to achieve five-star status.
Ravi De Silva CEO/Director of Delmege Aviation Services GSA for Philippine Airlines Cargo in Sri Lanka and Maldives extended his appreciation to the SriLankan Airline Cargo Team and the Freight Forwarders Community for their invaluable support during the past two years.
PAL CARGO received a boost from Sri Lankan Airlines Ex. Colombo with daily flights, which will open the door and offer more choices to its customers by facilitating the movement of shipments on UL via intermediate points, Bangkok, Singapore, Beijing and Shanghai to Philippines, and destinations beyond including USA, Canada, Australasia and South East Asia. Apart from which PAL has now increased their global footprint to reach new destinations in Auckland, Cairns, Port Mores by, the latest being Saipan.
“People looked at PAL before as the best airline in Asia, but we were overtaken by events,” added Philippine Airlines President Jaime Bautista. “Now we w bring back the glory days.”