AirAsia PH cancels flights to Taiwan due to nCoV travel ban

MANILA, Philippines — AirAsia Philippines on Tuesday suspended flights from the Philippines to Taiwan as the government imposed expanded travel restrictions to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease (2019-nCoV ARD).

In a travel advisory, AirAsia said flights going to and from the Philippines, Kaohsiung City and Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, were canceled. Previously, AirAsia also suspended flights from the Philippines to mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao.

AirAsia advised guests affected by the flight cancellations to choose from the following options:

Move flight: One-time flight change to a new travel date on the same route within 30 calendar days beginning 29 March 2020 from original flight time without additional cost, subject to seat availability.

Credit account: Retain the value of your fare in your AirAsia BIG Loyalty account for future travel with AirAsia. The online credit account is to be redeemed for booking within 90 calendar days from the issuance date for your travel with us. The actual travel dates can be after the expiry date as long as our flight schedule is out. This is applicable for affected flights to/from mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao until March 28, 2020.

Full refund: Obtain a full refund to your original payment method for the amount equivalent to your booking. This is applicable for affected flights to/from mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao until March 28, 2020.

AirAsia said refund requests can be made through AirAsia’s new digital assistant, AirAsia Virtual Allstar or AVA which is available at support.airasia.com.

For bookings coordinated through travel agents or online travel agents, refund requests are made through their respective travel agents.

The Department of Health said Monday that Taiwan is covered in the expanded travel ban as a precautionary measure against the novel coronavirus.

President Rodrigo Duterte ordered a travel ban that covers mainland China, Macau and Hong Kong after the Philippines recorded its first death due to the nCoV which involved a 44-year-old man from Wuhan city of China.