MANILA – Saudi Ambassador to the Philippines Abdullah Al-Hassan flagged off on Tuesday evening the first non-stop flight of the Philippine Airlines (PAL) from Manila to Dammam. The ambassador led the ribbon cutting ceremony held at Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport, the Saudi Press Agency reported. Speaking on the occasion, Al-Hassan said resumption of direct flights would strengthen relations between the two countries in commercial, investment, and manpower supply fields. PAL will operate three weekly services on Mondays, Tuesdays and Saturdays from Manila to the King Fahd International Airport in Dammam. PAL also resumed non-stop service to Riyadh from Sunday. There will be non-stop services from Riyadh to Manila every Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. A ceremony was held at the King Khaled International Airport on Sunday to welcome the passengers and the crew onboard the first PAL flight non-stop flight. Ambassador Ezzedin H. Tago, Otham Al Zamil, director for operations and fire service, and Ali Al Rashid, airport manager for terminal operations, and several other officials were present on the occasion. PAL first started flying to and from Saudi Arabia on July 3, 1982, landing in Dhahran International Airport and eventually operated to Riyadh, Dammam and Jeddah until 2001 when the airline was hit by a crippling industrial action.
