All commercial flights temporarily suspended; cargo flights unhampered

All passenger/commercial flights to and from the Philippines are temporarily suspended beginning 8am, May 3, 2020, according to a Manila International Airport Authority advisory on May 2.

The flight restriction will be implemented for one week or until May 9 to “give the government the opportunity to decongest quarantine facilities in Metro Manila,” according to Carlito Galvez Jr., chief implementer of the National Taskforce Against COVID-19.

All domestic air arrivals and departures at the NAIA will remain suspended.

The suspension is meant to “decongest quarantine facilities to protect our people by preventing the further spread of COVID-19 and also ensure that our overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are well taken cared of when they arrive from abroad. As of today, there are already approximately 20,000 OFWs undergoing mandatory quarantine in Metro Manila,” Galvez said.

In a separate statement, the Department of Transportation said the measure allows “the current system to ramp up its capacity to properly process the growing number of Filipino repatriates going back to the Philippines daily.”

It added, “The government has already accommodated around 20,000 repatriates who are quarantined in Metro Manila, with an arrival rate of 2,000 per day. This measure to temporarily suspend international passenger arrivals will enable the government to decongest the processing of this number to a more manageable level, given the need to observe strict health protocols, and the fact that existing quarantine facilities are at full capacity.

“The move is deemed necessary in order to ensure that our country will not experience a second wave of Covid-19 pandemic due to the increasing number of international passenger arrivals. It should be noted that most of our repatriated citizens are coming from countries which experienced significant Covid-19 outbreak.

“It will also allow the government’s front line agencies that are tasked to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to upgrade their testing and screening protocols, and expand the existing quarantine and treatment facilities and ensure a more comfortable quarantine arrangement for our repatriated kababayans.”

Galvez said the decision to temporarily restrict flight operations at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Manila and all other international airports in the country excludes the following:

• Emergencies while enroute;
• Cargo flights;
• Air Ambulance and medical supplies flights;
• Weather mitigation flights; and
• Maintenance flights

Also allowed to continue operating are sweeper flights for foreign nationals repatriating back to their respective countries.

The CAAP in a separate statement said it issued a Notice to Airmen suspending all domestic and international commercial flights to and from the Philippines for one week starting Sunday (May 3).

International flights intending to land or depart from the Philippines should seek an exemption from the CAAP Operations Center at least 36 hours before the scheduled departure from the airport of origin.