Flag carrier Philippine Airlines on Tuesday announced its flights to the Middle East will continue despite the ongoing row between Qatar and a bloc of ME countries—United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Yemen.
PAL operates 30 flights per week to the Middle East—seven flights weekly to Dubai; four to Kuwait; four to Doha; five to Dammam; three to Jeddah and seven to Riyadh.
“While PAL is not a party to the dispute and maintains strong bilateral ties to these countries, it shall observe guidelines issued by said nations,” said PAL spokesperson and External Communications head Ma. Cielo Villaluna.
The Abu Dhabi Airport Immigration earlier announced that effective immediately, all UAE nationals and holders of all passport types are not allowed to travel/enter Qatar or to transit through Qatar Airports and all Qatari nationals and holders of all passports type are not allowed to travel/enter to UAE or to transit through UAE Airports.
Villaluna said in light of these guidelines, Philippine Airlines shall not carry Qatari nationals into the UAE (Abu Dhabi/Dubai) and shall not carry UAE nationals into Qatar (Doha).
All Qatari diplomats in the UAE are given 48 hours to leave the country and all other Qatari nationals in UAE are given 14 days (June 5 to June 19) to leave the country.
“PAL continues to monitor the situation and shall issue updates and announcements, as needed,” said Villaluna.
PAL PR 656 (Manila-Abu Dhabi-Doha) departs Manila every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 12:30 a.m. and arrives in Abu Dhabi at 5:45 a.m. (local time) and in Doha at 8:15 a.m. (local time).
PAL recently opened the regular service to Doha, Qatar and the aircraft offers economy and premium economy service.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Embassy in Doha earlier stated that Etihad Airways, Emirates Airlines and other regional carriers have suspended flights to and from Doha.
The Embassy advised Filipino travelers to consult their agents to ensure unhampered travel arrangements. It also called on all Filipinos in Qatar to remain calm and exercise prudence.
Dubai-based budget carrier Flydubai also announced it would suspend flights to and from Doha.
The airlines' suspension of flights came after Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE and Bahrain severed their ties with Qatar last Monday, accusing it of supporting terrorism and opening up the worst rift in years among some of the most powerful states in the Arab world.