Due to the confirmed new variant of COVID-19, the Philippine Airlines will limit passengers in some flights to Filipino citizens and their immediate only, and will no longer accept foreign travelers from 20 identified countries.
In its advisory release today, PAL said that in compliance with the new Philippine government travel restrictions, it will only accept Filipino citizens, their spouses and their families on board flights from Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Canada, South Korea and Australia for the period from December 30, 2020 to January 15, 2021.
Meanwhile, foreign nationals who originated from, or were in transit via, or had visited the following countries within 14 days prior to arrival in the Philippines are not allowed to enter the country.
- Denmark
- Ireland
- Japan
- Australia
- Israel
- The Netherlands
- Hong Kong, SAR
- Switzerland
- France
- Germany
- Iceland
- Italy
- Lebanon
- Singapore
- Sweden
- South Korea
- South Africa
- Canada
- Spain
- United Kingdom
Filipino citizens, along with their spouses and children, who had visited any of the above countries are allowed to enter the Philippines but will be required to undergo a strict 14-day quarantine period at a designated quarantine facility, according to the airline advisory.
However, passengers who are already in transit and arrive before December 30, 2020, 12:01AM, from the 20 countries / areas listed above, and/or who have been in these areas within 14 days prior to arrival, will be allowed entry but will be required to undergo an absolute facility-based 14-day quarantine period, even if their mandatory RT-PCR test results are negative.
The above restrictions are mandated by the presidential approval of the latest Resolution of the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Infectious Diseases (IATF) restricting travel into the Philippines from specified countries, as a protection measure against the new variant of the SARS-COV 2 Virus.
Earlier, PAL announced the cancellation of flights to/ from London until end-February 2021 in view of the tier4 lockdown of the UK government.
Affected passengers may rebook on the next available flights after the restriction period, with rebooking service fees waived. They may also refund the cost of their ticket with refunding service fees waived. A third available option is the conversion of the PAL ticket into a travel voucher for future use.