PAL readmitted to IATA

PAL readmitted to IATA

MANILA (AP): Philippine Airlines said Monday it has been
readmitted to the International Air Transport Association after
settling its debts with the airline industry body.

PAL was suspended from the IATA's clearing house in September
1998 after it failed to pay debts of US$32 million to other
airlines. At that time, debt-laden PAL was on the brink of
bankruptcy and struggling to get its creditors, owed $2.2
billion, to accept a recovery plan.

PAL's suspension from the IATA was a serious blow to the
ailing carrier because it effectively severed its links with the
association's 198 member airlines. Passengers with PAL tickets
were unable to transfer to other airlines.

Passengers traveling from Manila to New York, for example, had
to purchase separate tickets on PAL and a second airline and
manually recheck their baggage since PAL does not fly beyond the
U.S. West Coast.

"PAL has now returned to the fold of the international
aviation community," PAL president Avalino Zapanta said in a
statement. "This is a major step in our inexorable march to full
recovery."