Another milestone: PAL flies non-stop to Miami for the first time
Aviation Updates Philippines – Philippine Airlines confirmed Wednesday it has dispatched a Boeing
777-300ER aircraft for Miami, Florida from Manila, Philippines — marking
another historic feat for the national flag carrier.
"Philippine Airlines marks another milestone with its first-ever Manila to
Miami," PAL Spokesperson Cielo Villaluna said. RP-C7772 was sent for the
mission which logged 16 hours and 9 minutes.
The non-stop flight to Miami is a first for PAL. Its primary mission will be to
repatriate 345 Filipino seafarers of the Royal Caribbean cruise line from Miami, with an arrival scheduled on Thursday, May 21.
Commanding the historic Manila-Miami flight were Capt. Rommel Quizon, First Officer
Joseph Marvin Jumaquio, Second Officer Jose Miguel Cajucom, and Second
Officer Elijah Len Alcantara, together with PAL cabin crew.
Interestingly, it is currently the farthest flight for PAL — roughly
9,314 miles from Manila. Take note, the longest flight (by duration) for the
carrier is still the New York-Manila sector, clocking around 16 hours and 30
minutes per way.
Based on Boeing's technical sheet, the 777-300ER could only fly for up to
7,370 nautical miles (or about 8,481 miles) if fully loaded. However, the
favorable tailwind and the fact that the aircraft flew without passengers
and cargo made this flight safely possible.
Since the return flight will have hundreds of passengers and cargo on-board,
a non-stop flight is not practical. Hence, a technical stop was
planned in Los Angeles for the actual repatriation flight.
As of posting, flight PR-8113 is already en-route to Los Angeles for its technical stop before finally proceeding to Manila. A crew change will also be done at each airport.
Last month, PAL sent an Airbus A330 flight to Male, Maldives for the first
time in its history, and a few weeks ago, the airline landed in Milan,
Italy. These repatriation flights are a testament to PAL's genuine service
for the Filipino people amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo by Boneyard Safari
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