PAL, Qatar Airways sign code-share deal

Philippine Airlines and Qatar Airways have signed a code-share agreement for services between Manila and Doha, giving PAL its fifth gateway in the Middle East.

The agreement allows both carriers to jointly offer seat on flights operated by Qatar Airways between the two capitals, which have now increased to five times weekly from three previously.

"This partnership gives PAL another opportunity to be of service to our Filipino compatriots based in Qatar. They will benefit from this pact in terms of more frequencies to and from Doha as well as convenient connections to PAL’s domestic network," said Henry So Uy, PAL executive vice president for the commercial group.

The joint service is published and displayed in the computer reservations system as both Qatar Airways ("QR") and PAL ("PR") flights.

PAL has designated the Manila-Doha flight as PR 613, departing Manila every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday at 11 p.m., and every Saturday at 11:15p.m. Arrival in Doha is 5:15 a.m. the next day.

The Doha-Manila service is known as PR 612, with departures from the Qatari capital every Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 11:59 p.m., and every Wednesday at 10:30 p.m.

Arrival in Manila is 2:15 p.m. Thursday for the Wednesday flight and 3:35 p.m. the following day for the rest of the schedule.

All flights are operated using Airbus 300-600R widebody aircraft.

Doha is PAL’s fifth point in the Middle East. The flag carrier operates three times a week to Riyadh. It also serves Dubai six times weekly, Abu Dhabi twice weekly and Cairo twice weekly via code-share pacts with Emirates, Gulf Air and Egypt Air, respectively.