PAL flights to resume on limited scale under eased quarantine

MANILA, Philippines — Flights are expected to resume on Monday, but on a limited scale.

In a statement, the country’s flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) said it would resume domestic and international flights.

PAL spokesperson Cielo Villaluna said in the statement that the airline would be mounting flights between Manila and Basco, Laoag, Legazpi, Bacolod, Cebu, Dumaguete, Caticlan, Iloilo, Kalibo, Roxas City, Tacloban, Tagbilaran, Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Cotabato City, Dipolog, Davao City, Ozamiz, General Santos City, Pagadian and Zamboanga City.

With regard to Palawan province, flights to and from Puerto Princesa International Airport for PR 2785/2786 will resume on June 8, with a limited schedule of Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Flights to and from Busuanga Airport will resume on June 15, with limited schedules of Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for PR 2961/2962, and Sundays for PR 2965/2966.

International flights

“We plan to increase the number of routes and flights in the coming months, if allowed by aviation authorities, global public health conditions and the travel environment,” Villaluna said.

There would be limited international services on routes from Manila to Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York in the mainland United States; Honolulu, Hawaii; the US island territory of Guam; Toronto and Vancouver, Canada; Xiamen, China; Hong Kong; Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka in Japan; Jakarta, Indonesia; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Taipei, Taiwan; Singapore; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Qatar; and Dammam and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Villaluna said PAL was still evaluating the possibility of operating selected services to London, United Kingdom, and Sydney, Australia, by June.

There are no flights yet in June for these destinations: Auckland, Bali, Bangkok, Beijing, Brisbane, Busan, Fukuoka, Guangzhou, Hanoi, Macau, Melbourne, Phnom Penh, Perth, Port Moresby, Quanzhou (Jinjiang), Sapporo, Seoul (Incheon) and Shanghai.

Inbound international flights are subject to a cap of 400 passengers a day as imposed by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Passengers need not worry about cabin air, Villaluna said, as all aircraft were now equipped with high-technology systems that infuse fresh air across the cabin every two to three minutes.

She also cited as another feature the high-efficiency particulate air filters that trap viruses, bacteria and other contaminants with 99.9-percent efficiency.

A modified meal and snack service would also be offered on board, using sealed packaging instead of traditional meals. —JEROME ANING AND ROMAR MIRANDA