PAL plane flies to Crete for OFW evacuees from Libya

Flag-carrier Philippine Airline said in a statement Tuesday one of its Boeing 777 airplanes took off at 10:03 p.m. from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport for the Greek island Crete, from where it will fly back with nearly 400 Filipinos who were evacuated from strife-torn Libya. The special flight — PR 008 — will arrive at 5:41 a.m. Wednesday at Heraklion Airport in Crete after a non-stop, 12-hour flight, and is scheduled to depart about two hours later at 7:30 a.m. (Athens Standard Time). In Crete, PR 008 will go through the usual ground handling procedures including refueling before flying back to Manila, the airline said in an emailed statement late Tuesday. It is scheduled to arrive in Manila at 1:10 a.m., March 10. The evacuation flight was a result of coordination among officials of PAL and the departments of Foreign Affairs and Labor and Employment in securing overfly and landing permits and ground handling arrangements, the airline said. — VS, GMA News