Cebu Pacific, PAL commercial flights remain suspended

The country’s airlines will have to wait longer before resuming normal flights after President Rodrigo Duterte again extended the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in the country’s capital and other regions. In separate advisories on Friday, Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines (PAL) said their commercial flights, both domestic and international, were still suspended after the President […]

The country’s airlines will have to wait longer before resuming normal flights after President Rodrigo Duterte again extended the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in the country’s capital and other regions.

In separate advisories on Friday, Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines (PAL) said their commercial flights, both domestic and international, were still suspended after the President extended the lockdown until May 15 to further stem the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

The Gokongwei-led budget airline said its cargo flights would continue carrying vital goods, including medicines and personal protective equipment, across the country, while flag carrier PAL hoped to gradually resume flights once the ECQ is lifted.

“Should the lockdown be lifted by end-day May 15, there will be a gradual and calibrated resumption of operations starting May 16,” PAL spokesman Cielo Villaluna said in a Viber message.

“There are several factors to be considered — the travel restrictions in each country we fly to and the travel appetite…” she added.

This comes after the Air Carriers Association of the Philippines (ACAP) formally asked the Duterte administration for state assistance to soften the financial shock from the Luzon-wide lockdown, which hit thousands of flights.

In a letter dated March 25, 2020, ACAP Vice Chairman and Executive Director Roberto Lim said local airlines had sought government assistance as they stopped their passenger flights following Duterte’s decision in mid-March to expand the quarantine initially imposed on Metro Manila to the entire Luzon to contain Covid-19.

According to him, Philippine carriers hoped to receive a credit guarantee scheme; access to emergency lines of credit for six months; longer-term facility with attractive rates; and full waiver of all navigational and airport charges.

While the government gave the go-signal for airlines to keep their cargo flights, the ACAP official said the financial position of air carriers remained uncertain.

“With no revenue flow seen for the next several weeks or even months, ACAP member-airlines will urgently need [these] government interventions,” Lim said.

He noted that several governments around the world already extended help to their respective aviation industries.

Lim also feared that Philippine airlines would not be spared from the prediction of the Center for Asia Pacific Aviation that by the end of May, most airlines in the world would be bankrupt due to the pandemic.