PAL’s return to London; Azerbaijani ambassador replies

PAL’s return to London is not just about resuming flights to this major hub in Europe. It is a statement of faith that the airlines will be there to serve Filipinos in Europe who run into hundreds of thousands.

I was living in London when PAL flights were stopped. At the time no one thought it would ever resume again. There were all kinds of talk about its bankruptcy, the quality of food had gone down and worse, it was late to arrive or depart. Despite these, many Filipinos continued to patronize the airline.

“It is our airline” they said. They felt at home and when it went it was like they had also lost part of home even if were only in the skies.  There were stories about Filipinos going home for Christmas, some who had not been in the Philippines for years would clap as soon as the plane touched down. They could not do that in other airlines.

They never did feel at home in other airlines although those plying the route tried to make up by adding Filipino dishes to their menu. But I was also told that Filipinos especially the seamen were relegated to the back part of the airplane.

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That is why the good news of PAL’s return to London is more than just welcome. But PAL means not only to return the national airlines to Filipinos abroad, it promises the best that air travel can offer that will  help entice tourists to the Philippines. 

PAL’s  return to London will be the main attraction of the Philippine participation at the World Travel Market (WTM) which  is the biggest event in the world travel industry. PAL timed its inaugural return flight to London on the same day that the WTM opens tomorrow, Nov. 4.       

With its new planes, direct flight, new cuisine and other amenities, PAL’s Ramon Ang has found his formula for success of what was once an ailing airline. The new PAL will compete with other airlines offering top of the class travel.

“In the first six months of 2013 alone, we had more than 60,000 arrivals from Britain. This elevated the UK to the Philippines’ top 10 visitor markets for the first time – the only European nation on the list. With PAL’s new non-stop flights, we are sure those numbers will increase further,” Ang said.

PAL will be flying the direct flights from Manila to London five times a week using its Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. It features one of the most spacious cabin equipped with modern in-flight amenities.

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Equal time, equal opportunity. I was among those invited by former Speaker Jose de Venecia of ICAAP (International Conference of Asian Political Parties) to be an observer at the recent elections in Azerbaijan. There have been published accounts from Western media that the elections were fraudulent. We saw nothing of that during our visit.  So it was good that the criticisms were answered recently in the Voice of Russia by the Azerbaijani Ambassador to the US Elin Suleymanov. We have much to learn from their experience and their response.

He emphasized “the foundation of the foreign policy of Azerbaijan is the national interests of our country and people.”

To answer the question on how the incumbent president could have won on such a large margin of 85 percent he said it was not surprising. 

“I would say it’s a convincing win, but it’s not surprising. Every poll, every survey conducted in Azerbaijan has shown a very clear advantage of the incumbent president Ilkham Aliyev. The difference was minor, this is not a surprising outcome.”

As observers we saw that outcome too. There would not have been any different outcome. 

“Everybody knew that president Aliyev is popular, he conducts policy which brings prosperity to our people. In a way election is of course electing a particular person, in this case an incumbent president, but it’s also in a way a referendum on the direction of the country and I think that is even more important that the people have more or less endorsed Azerbaijan’s successes over the recent years. â€œ

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The criticism from Western media focused on the devastating defeat of Aliyev’s main oppoinent Hasanli who is a history professor and backed by critical outsiders.

That, too was answered by Ambassador Suleymanov.

 â€œMr. Jamil Hassanli was not a very well-known politician before, he is a professor of history. He has rallied actively and, it’s for me to say, but think he had a significant air time on the public TV, the public watched it.

We had ten candidates and the majority of them were present at the debates. Mr. Hassanli had his 6 minutes of a free time on a daily basis, that’s quite a lot actually. If you think about it, it’s much more than I can ever get on American TV to explain the significance of my country. But the question is what you do with this free time. So I think you shouldn’t blame the messenger, the problem is that there was no message.

I have watched the debates, I haven’t seen any message. There was criticism, there were attacks, personal attacks, accusations. It’s a decision made by all people. Many people in Azerbaijan, an overwhelming majority, have watched the debates so they have a chance to make up their mind, to see the candidates and to cast their votes. And this is the result.”

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Western media stories used the position of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe that was reported to be on the side of  Hassanli. That was what the stories said and then jumped on to “the vote was seriously fraud.” So at the press conference of our group of observers, I asked the panel, including top officials from ICAPP headed by former Philippines Speaker Jose de Venecia. Where do you think this is coming from?

Here is an answer I would not have known as an observer. (By the way, entrance to the room designated for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe was restricted.)

 â€œWell, first of all, not the entire Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, but a particular group and the particular individuals within this group. The OSCE mission in Baku fully endorsed the elections…they came up with a very reasonable statement, so there are many other observers. Perhaps there was some valid criticism in the terms that there were some shortcomings and so on, but  there is no question that the elections went well. “