DGCA’s Director of the Department of Air Transport Abdullah Al-Rajhi with Philippine Airlinesí Vice President for Sales Ryan Uy.

KUWAIT: The maiden flight of Philippine Airlines landed in Kuwait yesterday and was accorded a traditional welcome by Kuwait airport officials. The inaugural flight to Kuwait carried passengers and several Philippines Airlines officials including Vice President for Sales Ryan Uy and Senior Assistant Vice President Genaro Velasquez. The first return flight took off yesterday afternoon. Abdullah Al-Rajhi, the superintendent of Air Transport for International Relations, welcomed the airline officials and passengers. "We welcome Philippine Airlines in Kuwait and we are hoping for the success of our business venture together. As part of the Kuwait Airport management, we are very happy over this new wonderful development," said Rajhi.

Warm welcome

Uy thanked Kuwait and its people for the warm welcome accorded to Philippine Airlines. "On behalf of Lucio Tan, Chairman and CEO of Philippine Airlines, and Jaime Bautista, President and Chief Operating Officer, I would like to thank the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the management of Kuwait International Airport and people of Kuwait for this wonderful reception," he said. "We are honored by the special attention and indeed your effusive welcome matches the warmth of your bright and sunny weather in Kuwait. I also bring you warm greetings from Manila," he noted.

The inaugural flight, according to Uy, was the first of many PAL flights that will bind Kuwait City and Manila closer together. "It took us a while to arrive here - in fact 75 years, or since PAL was founded in 1941. We consider you as a friend; Kuwaitis and Filipinos have been interacting since early 1960s when a newly-independent Kuwait emerged as one of the world's major oil players in the world,' he added. He mentioned that Filipinos were among the first to work in the oilfields and refineries in the country.

200,000 Filipinos

"With 200,000 Filipinos in Kuwait, it is high time that their flag carrier, the airline they trust, flies to their workplace to serve their travel needs. Of course PAL being an international carrier, we serve all nationalities. Our Kuwaiti friends and foreign expatriates based in Kuwait are most welcome as our guests, and indeed there are many reasons why PAL chose to fly to Kuwait. One and most important is the strong and enthusiastic support from various sectors," Uy disclosed.

After Kuwait, Philippine Airlines will start operations to Jeddah from today, bringing to seven the flag carrier's total number of Middle East destinations which also includes Abu Dhabi, Doha, Dammam, Dubai and Riyadh. PR 668 departs Manila at 10:00 pm every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday and arrives in Kuwait the following day at 6:55 am local time; PR669 departs Kuwait at 2:55 pm local time every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and arrives in Manila at 8:15 am the following day. PAL's new A330-300 will be the fleet for the new Mideast routes.

By Ben Garcia