PHILIPPINE AIRLINES: ASIA'S FIRST AIRLINE

Philippine Airlines, Inc. (abbreviated pal), also known as the history of the Philippines Air Lines, is the national airline of the Philippines.

It was the first commercial airline in Asia and the oldest of those currently in operation, with a long and distinguished history spans over seventy years.


Out of hubs at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila and Mactan-Cebu International Airport in Cebu City time, Philippine Airlines serves eighteen destinations in the Philippines and 26 destinations in Southeast Asia, East Asia, Australia, Canada and the United States .

history

early Beginnings

Philippine Airlines was founded on 26 February 1941, making it the oldest still running carriers Asia under its current name. Airline was started by a group of businessmen led by Andres Soriano, hailed as one of the leading industrialists in the Philippines' time, who served as its general manager, and former Senator Ramon Fernandez, who served as its chairman and president.

First flight of the airline occurred on March 15, 1941 the single Beechcraft Model 18 NPC-54 on daily services between Manila (from Nielson Field) and Baguio.

Pal service is interrupted during World War II, which lasted in the Philippines from late 1941 to 1945 At the outbreak of the Pacific War on December 8, 1941, the two Model 18s and their pilots were pressed into military service. They were used to evacuate American fighter pilots to Australia until one taken down over Mindanao and the other was destroyed on the ground in an already raid in Surabaya, Indonesia.

On July 31, 1946, PAL became the first Asian airline to cross the Pacific Ocean when a chartered Douglas DC-4 ferried 40 American servicemen to Oakland, California from Nielson Airport with stops in Guam, Wake Island, Johnston Atoll and Honolulu.