PAL resumes Manila-Dubai flights in October

MANILA, Philippines — Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) will resume weekly flights to Dubai starting October, with plans to increase gradually to a daily service as soon as operational conditions are normal.

PAL yesterday said it is reinstating nonstop flights between Manila and Dubai on Oct. 2, following suspension due to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

The flight will operate four times a week – Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday – with the flight to Dubai leaving in the afternoon and the return to Manila flying out in the evening.

PAL plans to increase the flight volume to Dubai to a daily frequency as soon as possible. For now, the airline said it is important to restore air links between Manila and Dubai because of how crucial the latter is as the Middle East’s aviation hub.

PAL’s Dubai flights will also provide overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) direct access to the United Arab Emirates. The UAE hosts one in 10 OFWs as of 2024, based on data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.

The UAE is the second largest OFW market in the Middle East behind Saudi Arabia.

Dubai serves as the layover hub for flights between Asia and Europe, with its airport operating connecting flights from some of the world’s largest airlines.

The UAE offers visa-on-arrival privileges to Filipino passport holders who also hold a valid visa, residence permit or green card originating from Australia, Canada, European Union, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and the US.

Budget carrier Cebu Pacific, on the other hand, will be resuming flights in Dubai earlier. It is set to reactivate Manila flights to Dubai by July 2 on a four times a week schedule.

Filipinos, for their part, may take advantage of the lowering fuel surcharge to find cheaper fares. The Civil Aeronautics Board is reducing the fuel surcharge by three notches to Level 9 for July 1 to 15, from Level 12 right now.

Level 9 is the cheapest fuel surcharge rate in three months, as it had reached a record Level 19 in the second half of April at the height of security tensions in the Middle East.

At Level 9, carriers may collect a fuel surcharge of P287 to P839 for local flights and P947.39 to P7,044.27 for foreign trips, depending on the distance.