PAL (Philippine Airlines)

PAL - Dumaguete City Airport

Philippines very first commercial airline. I had fond memories flying PAL way back in the late 70's and 80's though I can't remember most of it because I was still a toddler during that time. We usually took PAL when were going to have our summer vacation in Manila. It takes about an hour from Dumaguete to Manila. No other airlines was flying the Dgte-Manila route during that time. It has been years that I haven't been on the airline and I will always remember PAL every time I see that logo with the red, blue and yellow sun rays. And I still have the stainless bread knife that I took from the airline. And I'm still using that knife until today, it's a classic memorabilia from PAL.

History:

The airline was founded on February 26, 1941 by a group of businessmen led by Andres Soriano, hailed as one of the Philippines' leading industrialists at the time, who served as its general manager, and former Senator Ramon Fernandez, who served as its chairman and president.

The airline’s first flight took place on March 15, 1941 with a single Beechcraft Model 18 NPC-54 on daily services between Manila (from Nielson Field) and Baguio. On July 22, the airline acquired the franchise of the Philippine Aerial Taxi Company. Government investment in September paved the way for its nationalization.

PAL services were interrupted during World War II, which lasted in the Philippines from late 1941 to 1945. Upon 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 was shot down over Mindanao and the other was destroyed on the ground in an air raid in Surabaya, Indonesia.

Source: wikipedia