PAL resumes flights to Saudi Arabia

MANILA, Philippines — Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) resumed yesterday its passenger flights to Saudi Arabia following a two-week hiatus.

PAL yesterday started accepting travelers on its flights to Saudi Arabia after the Saudi Arabian government authorities lifted a temporary suspension on international flights.

PAL passenger flights from Manila to Riyadh and Dammam were suspended from Dec. 21, 2020 to Jan. 3, but passenger flights from Saudi Arabia remained operational during the period.

“From Dec. 21, 2020 to Jan. 3, we operated cargo flights. The return flights to Manila carried passengers,” PAL spokesperson Cielo Villaluna said.

Saudi Arabia has announced its reopening for international flights after a suspension last Dec. 21, 2020 to contain the spread of the new COVID-19 strain.

PAL said upon arrival in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), all non-Saudi citizens who are more than eight years old must submit a negative RT-PCR test result from an accredited laboratory in their home-countries.

The tests must have been carried out within 72 hours before departure for Saudi Arabia.

PAL said passengers would need to carry out a seven-day home quarantine after their arrival in KSA.

As for the non-Saudi citizens who had been in any country identified as having the new COVID variant strain, they must spend no less than 14 days in another country (such as the Philippines) before entering KSA.

PAL said Saudi nationals and certain humanitarian and urgent cases are exempted from this requirement, but would be required to undergo a 14-day home quarantine after arrival in KSA.

PAL flies daily from Manila to Riyadh and vice versa, and operates flights between Manila and Dammam every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

The airline is currently not accepting foreign passengers from Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Canada, and the US in line with existing passenger restrictions.

PAL has also cancelled flights to/from London until end-February in view of tightened restrictions by the UK government.