PAL, Air Asia flights still canceled until April 30 as Luzon quarantine extended

MANILA, Philippines — International and domestic flights of local flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL), as well as Air Asia, will remain suspended until April 30, as the government extended the enhanced community quarantine, across Luzon.

PAL spokesperson Cielo Villaluna said Tuesday that their regular commercial operations will remain on hold “until at least April 30” as  “(t)he plan is for PAL operations to partially resume after quarantine is lifted.”

“We will announce details on the start date and which flights will resume in due course,” she added.

Also in a statement released Tuesday, AirAsia said that all of their affected guests will be notified either through email or SMS that their flights have been canceled.

“AirAsia is making provisions for guests affected by the flight cancellations and travel restrictions following the Philippine government’s latest directive,” AirAsia said. “While guests may request for a full refund, those with existing flight bookings made on or before 22 March 2020 with a departure date until 31 May 2020 will now be able to select from a range of extended flexibility options for future travel.”

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases earlier said President Rodrigo Duterte has approved the extension of the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine period until 11:59 p.m. of April 30.

This comes as cases of COVID-19 in the country soared to 3,764 as of April 7. Of this count, 177 have already died while 84 managed to recover.

KGA