Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) has signed an interline agreement with Emirates to enable passengers to connect to 21 cities in Europe and the Middle East via Dubai.

In an advisory, PAL said it entered into a deal with Emirates - one of the flag carriers of the United Arab Emirates - by tying their routes to each other's destinations.

Under the deal, PAL passengers gain access to the global network of Emirates via Dubai, where they can connect to European destinations such as London, Rome, Frankfurt, Barcelona and Paris, as well as to Middle East routes including Jeddah and Kuwait.

In exchange, Emirates passengers gain linkage to the Philippine network of PAL. From Manila, they can transfer to domestic destinations where PAL operates, including Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Bacolod, Cotabato, Davao, Iloilo, Kalibo, among others.

PAL vice president for sales Bud Britanico said the agreement benefits Filipinos looking to travel to Europe, Middle East and Africa. He said PAL agreed to the deal as part of its direction to broaden its international network.

'We at PAL are happy to embark on this new interline partnership with Emirates that expands the choices available to our passengers, who now gain easy access to destinations across Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa via our flights to Dubai,' Britanico said.

'We are eager to expand our reach to various international markets and exciting destinations and help stimulate business and tourist travel for global citizens, as well as provide better services to our fellow Filipinos living and working in overseas nations,' he added.

Emirates chief commercial officer Adnan Kazim, for his part, said the Philippines remains a growth market for the carrier and hopes to keep it that way through the agreement signed with PAL.

'The Philippines is one of our strongest consumer markets and Emirates is pleased to sign a new interline agreement with the country's flag carrier. The partnership with Philippine Airlines will help open new links for trade and tourism that would drive more inbound traffic into the market, and expand Emirates' footprint in East Asia,' Kazim said.

'We look forward to serving our partner airline PAL's customers with additional travel choices to Emirates destinations across the Middle East, Europe, as well as the Americas. We also intend to expand our cooperation with plans to include additional points via Cebu in the coming months,' he added.

At present, PAL flies a daily service between Manila and Dubai through its Airbus A330 offering business and economy seats.

On the other hand, Emirates operates a Boeing 777-300ER in a mix of three-class and two-class configurations for flights from Dubai to Manila, Cebu and Clark.

 

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