WHO, DOH: No travel ban yet over COVID

MANILA, Philippines — Despite the confirmed local transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Department of Health (DOH) have yet to issue guidelines on local travel, an official of Air Carrier Association of the Philippines (ACAP) said yesterday.

Roberto Lim, ACAP executive director, said the absence of a local travel ban in the country indicates that flights within the Philippines are safe.

“The DOH and the WHO, to our understanding, have not come up with any guideline calling for a travel ban domestically or restricting flights. So generally, flight within the Philippines is pretty much safe in general,” Lim said.

As more than 8,000 flights have been cancelled, he noted that some airline companies are already suffering, especially in terms of refunds from February to March, which cost about P3 billion.

To cushion the impact of the COVID-19 scare on local carriers and help them stay afloat, the government is providing relief by allowing a deferred payment of landing, takeoff and parking charges across all airports nationwide.

“In our meeting with Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade today, we had a decision that we will be extending a deferment of landing, takeoff and parking fees to the local carriers,” Manila International Airport Authority general manager Ed Monreal said yesterday.

At the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) alone, which MIAA operates, Monreal said expenses of carriers for parking, landing and takeoff amount to about P58 million per month.

Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) director general Jim Sydiongco said the payment of these charges will be postponed up to one year.

Aside from the deferment of payment, Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) executive director Carmelo Arcilla said the government is also looking to encourage local tourism to help local carriers. – With Richmond Mercurio, Rudy Santos, Pia Lee-Brago