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PAL extends full free rebooking for flights to April 30, 2020


Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) is extending its free rebooking period for flights booked beyond the end of the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon on April 14.

In a statement, PAL said it will extend the “full free rebooking privileges to all passengers who were booked on any flight during the community quarantine period from March 15, and beyond up to April 30.”

“Effective immediately, any applicable fare difference is waived for passengers flying ON THE SAME cabin class on their rebooked flight,” the airline said.

The free rebooking and fare difference waiver privileges are also extended to passengers of flights from outside the March 15 to April 30 period who are prevented from travel due to government-imposed travel bans, quarantines or flight cancellations due to COVID-19, PAL said.

Meanwhile, the flag carrier said it has continued to operate a number of international flights in response to urgent public need and the Philippine government's call for an air service lifeline to ferry out stranded foreign nationals.

The following are full schedule of flights to various countries, which PAL said it intends to serve the routes on March 19:

  • North America: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver, Toronto, Guam
  • Australia and Pacific: Sydney, Guam
  • Middle East: Dubai
  • Southeast Asia: Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore
  • Japan: Tokyo Narita, Tokyo Haneda, Osaka Kansai

“We at Philippine Airlines will do our part to help our customers and fellow citizens during the ongoing national and global emergency,” the airline said.

“We have so far maintained most of our international flights to help foreign tourists, OFWs and other people fly to their homelands or places of work, an urgent need identified by the Philippine Government. We do so even if we are certain to incur a loss on these flights, and we are taking all necessary health and safety precautions to ensure a safe journey for the passengers and crew members on board,” it said.

PAL said it has mounted special sweeper flights on March 19 on the Cebu-Manila sector to carry foreign nationals who urgently need to board international flights to their home countries from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

With the lifting of the 72-hour window for international travel, the flag carrier said it is marshaling resources to operate limited international services on selected routes for March 20 and beyond, and will announce the details in due course.

The final decision will depend on whether the airline, its service providers and the authorities can overcome increasing challenges, including the difficulty of securing enough manpower at the airports to support these operations given quarantine restrictions, and a growing series of travel bans and restrictions imposed by various countries, according to PAL.

“We salute our crew members, along with all our personnel and those of our service partners, who show up for work in spite of COVID-19 concerns —a display of buong pusong alaga and bayanihan spirit that we can all appreciate. We thank our customers above all for their understanding and support in this challenging time,” it said. — Ted Cordero/BM, GMA News

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