Philippine Airlines (PAL) is suspending all its international flights from March 26, 2020 to April 14, 2020. Cargo and special flights to retrieve stranded passengers will continue.
All domestic flights had ceased as of March 17, 2020.
“After careful consideration, we concluded that PAL could no longer sustain even a limited number of international flights,” PAL said in a statement.
The carrier said several compelling reasons for its decision include the strict travel and entry restrictions imposed by more and more countries, the resulting collapse in demand for travel; and continuing challenges in staffing its Manila airport hub during the ongoing enhanced community quarantine.
Its last flight to depart from Manila week will be PR 104 bound for San Francisco at 10:10 PM on March 25.
Several flights will continue to arrive in Manila on March 26 from Los Angeles, Tokyo Narita and Jakarta, and on March 27 from New York JFK, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
“Our firm goal is to resume operations starting 15 April 2020, if warranted by Philippine and international authorities, global public health conditions and the travel environment,” PAL said.
PAL said it will now focus on “the task of conserving our resources in anticipation of the recovery and caring for the needs of our PAL team members, while we keep our fleet ready for the day that we resume flying.”
Aircraft and service personnel available for special flights to retrieve stranded passengers as well as cargo flights will still continue “to keep intact critical supply chains across our islands, the airline added.
“We understand that this pause in operations will be an inconvenience, and we hope for your understanding as we at PAL look to the safety of our colleagues and our families as we all face this global contagion,” the carrier noted.
“We are deeply thankful to our PAL employee family for their dedication and courage in the face of these unprecedented challenges, and to all of our service partners and government authorities who are working with us. We will stand together as the world deals with the COVID-19 virus,” PAL said.
The airline also thanked its customers for their support and patience.
“The global crisis is monumental in scale, but we are confident that we can all join together and work to overcome the challenges, and that your flag carrier will soon be back in the air to again link our beautiful country together and connect us with the world,” PAL said.
Low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific and sister airline Cebgo have earlier suspended all their domestic and international passenger flights from March 19 to April 14, 2020
