PAL cancels flights to China, HK and Macau as Duterte orders travel ban

Philippine Airlines

Philippine Airlines has announced on Sunday that they will be cancelling all their flights between Manila and Beijing, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Xiamen, Quanzhou (Jinjiang) and Macau that will take effect until 29 of February 2020 following the order of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte .

PAL Spokesperson Cielo Villaluna said “we are constrained to cancel these flights in compliance with the February 2, 2020 directive of the President of the Philippines and the related Order of the Philippine Civil Aeronautics Board, which aim to protect the Philippine public by helping to contain and neutralize the spread of the 2019-novel coronavirus Acute Respiratory Disease [2019-nCoV ARD] .

The directive temporarily bans the entry of any person of any nationality, except Filipino citizens and holders of Permanent Resident Visa issued by the Philippine Government, who come directly from Mainland China and its Special Administrative Regions (SARs), or who had been to China and its SARs within 14 days prior to their arrival in the Philippines.

The directive likewise 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.  Our all-Filipino flight and cabin crew members are likewise included in this 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.

Affected passengers may refund their tickets with service fees waived.  Otherwise, you may rebook your journey, with rebooking service fees waived, once the travel bans are lifted and we reinstate our flights to and from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.

“As of this time, the end-date of the travel ban has yet to be determined. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your kind understanding,” Villaluna added.

Affected passengers are advised to contact your travel agent for refunding or rebooking. And for tickets purchased through the PAL website, contact PAL ticket hotline offices (+632) 8855-8888 for refund and rebooking.