PAL cancels select Riyadh, Dammam flights this August

MANILA – Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) has announced the cancellation of select Riyadh and Dammam flights in Saudi Arabia in response to the Kingdom’s travel restrictions.

In an advisory, PAL said flights between Manila and Riyadh are canceled on Aug. 13, 14, 16, 20, and 21.

Likewise, operations between Manila and Dammam are canceled on Aug. 16, 17, and 22.

From Aug. 11 to 22, regular flights to and from the two cities will continue on dates not included above. However, flights coming from Riyadh and Dammam could only cater to 186 passengers per flight, to comply with the limitations on the number of passengers allowed.

Outbound flights from Manila to both cities are allowed to carry a full load of passengers, according to PAL.

“We reiterate our urgent appeal to the Saudi and Philippine authorities to work towards resolving the issue on flight and capacity restrictions so that we may again be able to operate our full schedule of flights to and from Riyadh and Dammam and make use of all our seats on board each flight, for the best interests of our passengers,” the advisory read.

Affected passengers may refund or rebook their tickets. They can also opt to convert their ticket to a travel voucher.

PAL said it was unable to contact a number of passengers “possibly due to erroneous contact details or transmission problems”.

It is urging Manila-bound passengers from Riyadh and Dammam to regularly check PAL’s website and social media pages. Booking status can be checked by calling (632) 8855-8888, PAL said.