After 2 months of commercial flight pause, PAL returns to the sky

A Philippine Airlines (PAL) Boeing 777-300ER took-off last night from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport last night bound for San Francisco USA. Flight PR104 was not a repatriation flight, but a commercial flight, the airlines' first signalling the resumption of its commercial flights.

The flight departed Manila at 10:24pm and is estimated to arrive in San Francisco at 7:45pm local time. This makes PAL the first local carrier to operate a commercial flight since the Philippine government lifted air travel restrictions.

Last to suspend, first to reopen

PAL, together with other local airlines, suspended scheduled passenger flights last March amid the declaration of the enhanced community quarantine which restricted international and domestic commercial flights to and from the country in order to stop the spread of CoviD-19.

Despite being the last local airline to suspend scheduled passenger operations on March 24, PAL continued to operate all-cargo flights and special repatriation flights to other countries including destination not included in its network.

Resumption of other flights

PAL will be initially operating a select number of international and domestic flights beginning this June. The number of flights will be gradually increased depending on market conditions, government-imposed travel restrictions, and other factors which will determine the viability of the route.

It is highly important for passengers to really check the flight status of the airlines and to always review the new airline safety protocols. 

Domestic flights on June 8

PAL has also announced that domestic flights will resume in June 8. This include flights to Basco, Laoag, Legaspi, Puerto Princesa, Busuanga, Bacolod, Cebu, Dumaguete, Iloilo, Kalibo, Caticlan, Roxas, Tacloban, Tagbilaran, Butuan, Cotabato, Cagayan De Oro, Dipolog, Davao, General Santos, Ozamiz, Pagadian, and Zamboanga.

The airline will also operate flights between Cebu and Davao.

Earlier, it was reported that the Civil Aeronautics Board asked airlines to cancel their flights as domestic destinations still need approval from the IATF due to some local government units (LGU) against the arrival of flight from Manila. These LGUs have low covid-19 case counts and would not want an increase in the number of those affected by the disease.

Metro Manila is the epicenter of the CoviD-19 in the Philippines.