MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Airlines (PAL) group has completed a global safety audit, confirming its compliance with the highest international aviation safety standards.
PAL and PAL Express have completed its seventh consecutive IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) renewal, marking 14 years of full international safety compliance by the country’s flag carrier.
PAL was the first Filipino airline to be IOSA-registered for safety, and for eight years was the sole airline in the country to earn and sustain that distinction.
“The IOSA registration affirms that safety is Philippine Airlines’ topmost priority and at the heart of our operational culture,“ PAL president Gilbert Santa Maria said.
“In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, that safety culture is what drives us to spare no effort in ensuring the safety of all the travelers who put their trust in our airplanes and our people when they travel. We look forward to the opportunity to resume flying so that we can serve the Filipino people and help in the coming recovery of the Philippine economy,” he said.
The IOSA is the internationally recognized safety evaluation system of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) that assesses the operational management and control systems of an airline.
The audit is conducted every two years and accepted by top government aviation authorities as the gold standard in airline safety assessments.
The latest IOSA audits for PAL and PAL Express covered the November 2019 to March 2020 period.
PAL said passing the audit means that the airline conforms with industry safety standards particularly flight operations, aircraft engineering and maintenance, organization and management, operational control and flight dispatch, cabin operations, ground handling operations, cargo operations, and security management.
PAL and PAL Express operate under the common brand name Philippine Airlines and serve 76 destinations in the country and abroad.
Its regular flights, however, had been temporarily suspended since March due to the lockdowns and travel restrictions due to the pandemic.
PAL said domestic flights to or from Manila, Cebu and Clark would remain cancelled for the rest of the month in compliance with the declaration of the modified enhanced community quarantine and related local restrictions for the period from May 16 to 31.
However, it said the possibility of flying international routes and/or domestic routes to and from Davao, in coordination with concerned government authorities, is being evaluated.
“We are working on plans to operate a few domestic routes from our Davao hub, possibly to Iloilo, Siargao and General Santos, to help support the economic recovery of Mindanao with the easing of quarantine restrictions there. We are coordinating with concerned government authorities and will announce any flight details once finalized,” it said.