No domestic flights yet for 1st week of June: CAB

MANILA – No domestic flight has been approved yet to be mounted on the first week of June, Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) chief legal officer Wyrlou Samodio said Sunday.

In a text message to the Philippine News Agency (PNA), Samodio confirmed that as of posting, no domestic flight has been approved yet saying these need to wait for clearance from the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF).

In an advisory dated May 30, CAB said the IATF “has yet to approve the routes for domestic air services proposed by airlines for the resumption of domestic operations in the first week of June.”

The CAB added that it advised airlines to cancel their flights on June 1 and to stop selling tickets for the said date.

Local carriers Philippine Airlines (PAL) and AirAsia Philippines on Friday announced the resumption of flight operations on June 1, following the government’s easing of lockdown, putting the National Capital Region (NCR), Davao City, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Pangasinan, and Albay under general community quarantine (GCQ) beginning June 1.

On Saturday night, budget carrier Cebu Pacific (CEB) announced offering a limited number of domestic passenger flights set for June 2-4.

It also announced that it would provide updates on flight schedules for June 5 and onwards.

All CEB international flights would remain suspended until June 30, the carrier added.

AirAsia Philippines on Sunday announced a schedule of several domestic flights beginning June 3, citing its plan to resume services in key domestic routes by June 3, and gradually including international routes by July 1.

Among the routes that AirAsia Philippines has announced include flights between Manila and Cebu, Davao, Tacloban, Cagayan de Oro, Bacolod, and Tagbilaran.

On its official Facebook page, PAL announced on May 30 the resumption of some international flights beginning June 1, and domestic flight operations beginning June 8. -PNA