MIAA ready for resumption of domestic flights on June 1 under GCQ

The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) on Saturday said it is ready for the expected resumption of domestic flights on June 1, when Metro Manila will shift to general community quarantine (GCQ).

MIAA general manager Ed Monreal ordered terminal managers to make the necessary preparations since domestic flights will be allowed between GCQ areas.

Monreal said domestic carriers have already announced the resumption of their operations starting June 1.

In an advisory, Philippine Airlines (PAL) said it will operate limited international services on routes to the USA, Canada, Guam, Vietnam, mainland China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Taipei, Singapore, Japan, the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.

Also, the airline said it will operate reduced number of domestic flights in most routes to and from its hub airport in Manila.

Cebu Pacific and Cebgo on Saturday announced that they will resume passenger flights on June 2, Tuesday with a limited number of domestic flights.

Budget carrier AirAsia meanwhile announced Sunday that it will gradually resume services in the Philippines starting June 3, Monday.

The MIAA said it will determine terminal usage based on the number of flights, and only flights approved by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines will be considered for slotting.

It added that only 400 passengers a day will be allowed on inbound international flights in accordance with guidelines set by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.

MIAA also said it has requested airlines to submit their plans after May 31. So far, 21 airlines operating in NAIA Terminal 1 have already submitted their flight plans.

It added that NAIA Terminal 1 will be for international commercial flights, Terminal 2 for repatriation and sweeper flights and commercial domestic flights of PAL, and Terminal 3 for Cebu Pacific and AirAsia.

Terminal 4 remains closed.

A total of 182,660 passengers were recorded in NAIA from March 16 to May 16, 2020. For the same period in 2019, NAIA had 8,570,113 passengers.

"This dip in passenger volume is caused by prohibitions on travel imposed by countries all over the world that compelled airline companies to consequently suspend operations.  Airlines that continue to operate to this day in NAIA do so on reduced capacity and frequency," the MIAA said.

MIAA's revenues went down by P1.8 billion as compared to figures in 2019.

Monreal said he is hopeful that new opportunities will arise from the current situation. —KG, GMA News