Philippine Airlines said it will mount special flights on Feb. 10 to assist passengers stranded as a result of the cancellation of all PAL flights to and from mainland China for the month of February amid the 2019 novel coronavirus scare.
The special PAL flights serving the Manila-Xiamen and Xiamen-Manila routes will be staffed with pilots and cabin crew who volunteered for the service. The flag carrier plans to use its 199-seater Airbus A321 aircraft for the planned mission.
The inbound flight from Xiamen will enable Filipino citizens and holders of Philippine permanent resident visas to fly back to the Philippines. The outbound flight from Manila will allow Chinese and other non-Filipino nationals to return to mainland China via Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport—a gateway to other points in China.
The flag carrier said it was compelled to cancel its mainland China flights since Feb. 2, after the Philippine government imposed a temporary ban on travel of Filipinos to mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau, along with restrictions barring foreign nationals from China from entering the Philippines, except for those holding Philippine-issued permanent resident visas.
The directive also bans Filipinos from traveling to mainland China and its SARs and requires a 14-day home-quarantine for Filipinos and permanent resident visa holders who come from mainland China and its SARs. All Filipino flight and cabin crew members are included in the ban.
“These new entry and exit restrictions compel us to cancel flights, and thus we seek the cooperation and understanding of our passengers whose travel plans will be affected,” PAL said.
PAL said the affected passengers could refund their tickets with service fees waived. “If you are a PAL passenger originally booked on those canceled flights, please note that we are unable to provide you with automatic replacement bookings for your canceled flight,” the flag carrier said in an advisory.
“Due to the uncertainty as to when the challenges related to the coronavirus situation will be overcome, we are unable to predict whether airlines will be able to restore flights beyond Feb. 29, 2020. As such, we assure you that we are monitoring the situation and will keep you posted on developments.
We urge you to start exercising available options once the lifting of the travel ban is made definitive.
You have the option to rebook/refund within your ticket validity period with service fees waived,” it said.
Flight PR 334 will depart Manila for Xiamen at 7:30 a.m. on Feb. 10, arriving at 9:55 a.m. The return PR 335 leg will depart Xiamen at 11:05 a.m. and arrive in Manila at 1:50 p.m. on Feb. 10.
These special flights are subject to final government approvals, including the waiver of the Filipino travel ban for concerned pilots and cabin crew, who will have to submit to home quarantine for 14 days after their return to the Philippines. At present, 64 PAL crew members are undergoing the mandated 14-day quarantine after flying in from China prior to the imposed travel ban. All PAL crew members are Filipino nationals.