Philippine Airlines (PAL) today (24 August 2010) said it is offering two round-trip tickets for free to relatives of Hong Kong nationals who were killed or hospitalized during Monday’s tragic hijacking of a tourist bus at the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park, Manila.
Harry Tan, chairman of PAL’s executive committee, said the flag carrier will shoulder the air fare – two each for the victims’ relatives – in flying to and from Manila.
“As our way of condoling with the victims’ families, PAL is also offering to bring back the remains of their loved ones to Hong Kong free of charge,” Tan added.
He directed Dina May Flores, PAL Country Manager- Hongkong, to facilitate the request for free priority tickets from any of the victims’ families. All they have to do is present proof of relations to the victims.
Flores may be contacted at the PAL Hongkong office at East Ocean Centre, 98 Granville Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, East Kowloon, with telephone numbers +852-236-88988 or +852-23019280.
Meanwhile, PAL said it joins the international community in mourning the senseless killing of foreign tourists in the historic Rizal Park.
As the national flag carrier, PAL said it is gravely concerned and saddened by the tragic ending to Monday’s hostage drama. But despite the expected adverse impact of travel advisories against the Philippines, PAL said it will continue to mount regular flights to its 26 international and 21 domestic destinations.
In the Manila-Hongkong route alone, PAL has five daily flights. “We will continue to serve this very important and strategic route, but we hope that dampened demand as a result of Monday’s incident will be temporary,” it said. PAL added it is too early to quantify what the financial impact of the negative advisories will have on PAL’s bottomline.