PAL, Gulf Air start code share

Philippine Airlines and Gulf Air have commenced a code-share service between Manila and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates with Gulf Air as the operating carrier.

The code-share deal, which became operational on July 15, gives PAL a seat and cargo allocation on each of Gulf Air’s two non-stop flights per week between Manila and the UAE capital.

The service is marketed and sold in the Philippines and the UAE as joint PAL/Gulf Air flights. It thus gives PAL a presence in the Abu Dhabi market after an absence of three years.

The code-shared flights are published and displayed in computer reservations systems as both Gulf Air (airline designator code: “GF”) and PAL (“PR”) flights.

PAL has designated Gulf Air’s Manila-Abu Dhabi flight as PR 255, departing every Monday and Saturday, with same-day arrivals in Abu Dhabi.

The Abu Dhabi-Manila service is known as PR 254, with departures every Monday and Tuesday, and arrivals in Manila on the same day and a day later, respectively.

All flights are operated using ultra-modern Airbus 340-300 widebody aircraft.

Members of PALsmiles, the airline’s frequent flyer program, earn mileage credit points when taking these flights. PAL’s Mabuhay Club members continue to enjoy access to executive lounges in Manila and Abu Dhabi.

Bahrain-based Gulf Air, the leading carrier in the Arabian Gulf region, is the sixth airline with which PAL has concluded a joint-service arrangement.

The flag carrier has code-share pacts with Egypt Air, Malaysia Airlines, Emirates and Kuwait Airways on various routes. It also has a cargo capacity agreement with Lufthansa German Airlines.

The forging of such commercial alliances, which allow PAL to widen its route network at minimal cost, is a key element of the flag carrier’s rehabilitation process.

The partnership with Gulf Air expands PAL’s network in the vital Middle East region – home to over half-a-million Filipino expatriate workers – to five points in three countries.

PAL operates thrice-weekly flights each to the Saudi Arabian cities of Riyadh and Dammam. Its code-share arrangements with Egypt Air and Emirates allow it to serve Cairo twice weekly and Dubai, UAE six times weekly from Manila.

PAL operated flights to Abu Dhabi from June 1992 to September 1997 when the UAE capital served as a major transit stop on the flag carrier’s Manila-to-Saudi Arabia and Manila-to-Europe services. The stop was discontinued when PAL restructured its international routes in the aftermath of the 1997 Asian financial crisis.