MANILA, Philippines — Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines announced that they are suspending both inbound and outbound flights in Taiwan following the announcement that the country is included in the Philippines’ expanded travel ban aimed to contain the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus-acute respiratory disease (2019-nCov ARD).
In a statement issued Monday night, Cebu Pacific said that the following flights have been canceled effective immediately:
Manila-Taipei
5J 312
5J 310
Taipei-Manila
5J 311 (Starting Feb. 12, 2020)
5J 313
Cebu Pacific added that its passengers have already been notified. Affected passengers may also check the status of their flights through the “manage booking” portal in the Cebu Pacific website.
Similarly, Philippine Airlines also announced the cancellation of the following flights to and from Taiwan:
PR890 Manila-Taipei
PR891 Taipei-Manila
PR894 Manila-Taipei
PR895 Taipei-Manila
Passengers who booked their Taiwan flights with Philippine Airlines are advised to wait for the announcement regarding the lifting of the ban.
“If your flight was canceled, you may refund your ticket at any time, with refund fees waived. Once the travel ban is lifted and we reinstate our flights, you may rebook, reroute, or refund your ticket within your ticket’s validity period, with rebooking, rerouting or refund fees waived,” Philippine Airlines said.
On Monday, the Department of Health (DOH) clarified that Taiwan was indeed covered by the expanded travel ban, in view of the “confusion” among the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
President Rodrigo Duterte previously issued the travel ban, which also covers mainland China, Macau and Hong Kong, to contain the spread of the 2019-nCov ARD.
The ban covers visitors from the aforementioned countries, and likewise bars Filipinos from traveling to these countries.