MANILA — Jaime Bautista, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Philippine Airlines (PAL), said that the carrier is hoping to offer the Tel Aviv, Israel route.
“There’s a clamor for it, and the (Philippine) government approached us and asked us to study having this route,” he said during the launch of PAL’s three new international destination offerings held in Manila last Tuesday, January 8.
Bautista said the request came after President Rodrigo Duterte made an official visit to Israel back in September of 2018.
“(This route) will be possible if (PAL) would be allowed to use the Saudi Arabia air space,” he remarked.
According to Bautista, the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) has been coordinating with its counterpart to allow the Philippine carrier to use the Saudi Arabia air space.
“There is no final word yet. CAB is still waiting for its counterpart’s response,” he said.
Bautista further noted that PAL has also been coordinating with the Philippine government in pursuing this route.
“Once the use of air space is approved, we would only need at least six months before we could operate there,” Bautista said, adding that the six months will be used to market PAL’s services.
