Local airlines to operate only essential flights in NCR during ECQ

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  • Local air carriers will only allow essential travel in and out the National Capital Region once the region goes into the strictest lockdown, enhanced community quarantine, from August 6 to 20
  • From July 30 to August 5, NCR is still under general community quarantine with heightened restrictions
  • Domestic travel to and from Metro Manila will be limited to essential travelers, including NCR Plus (Cavite, Laguna, Bulacan and Rizal) residents returning to Manila, in compliance with air travel restrictions imposed by authorities
  • International and domestic flights to and from Manila will continue operating during the ECQ and heightened GCQ periods, subject to government travel restrictions and related travel protocols

Local air carriers will comply with government travel guidelines and allow only essential travel following the announcement that the National Capital Region (NCR) will be placed under the strictest lockdown, enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), from August 6 to 20.

READ: NCR under ECQ from Aug 6 to 20

From July 30 to August 5, NCR is under general community quarantine (GCQ) with heightened restrictions.

In an advisory, Philippine Airlines said during these periods, domestic travel to and from Manila will be limited to essential travelers, including NCR Plus residents returning to Manila, in compliance with the air travel restrictions imposed by the authorities. NCR Plus comprises Metro Manila, Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite and Laguna.

International and domestic flights to and from Manila will continue operating during the ECQ and heightened GCQ periods, subject to government travel restrictions and related travel protocols.

PAL said it may also have to reduce or cancel flights on certain routes as a result of the restrictions, and will make the appropriate announcements on any adjustments once they are finalized.

Affected passengers may opt to rebook their flight to a later date; convert their ticket to a travel voucher; or refund their ticket without penalties.

In a separate statement, AirAsia Philippines noted that essential travelers and Authorized Persons Outside Residence (APOR) include the following:

  • Health/emergency frontline personnel
  • Government officials and frontline personnel
  • Duly authorized humanitarian assistance actors
  • Persons traveling for medical/humanitarian reasons
  • Persons going to the airport for travel abroad
  • Persons crossing zones for work or business permitted in the zone of destination, and going back home
  • Returning or repatriated overseas Filipino workers and other Overseas Filipinos returning to their places of residence

AirAsia Philippines said guests coming from and going to Manila with flight bookings with a departure date from July 31 to August 20 can move their flight from August 21 until September 30, 2021 and can select from a range of extended flexibility options for future travel.

Cebu Pacific said it will continue to operate flights as scheduled until August 5.

Passengers who wish to postpone their domestic flights and those traveling for non-essential reasons until August 20 may cancel up to two hours before their scheduled time of departure.

The heightened quarantine status in NCR follows appeal of the Metro Manila Council, composed of Metro Manila mayors, to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) to impose stricter measures in the metropolis following the discovery of local transmission of the Delta variant.

The travel ban on incoming passengers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand has also been extended from August 1 to 15.