Travel ban, fewer travelers prompt grounding of 807 weekly flights
MANILA, Philippines - More than half of the combined weekly flights from the Philippines to 10 other countries, and vice versa, have been grounded, and more are bound to get canceled as the government mulls widening existing travel barriers.
As of March 11, Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) data showed a total of 807 weekly flights to and from different destinations were prohibited to take off from various airports, representing 176,981 seats. The total number of grounded flights accounted for 56.4% of total flights per week approved by aviation regulators.
Compared with the previous data in March 2, the number of barred flights rose 2.4%.
The increasing tally of flights that did not take off demonstrates the impact of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) on the airline industry. Not only did state-led travel restrictions shut off travel, spooked travelers also held off from booking flights, resulting into empty plane seats and prompting airlines to cancel some routes.
On Thursday evening, President Duterte said the Philippines is expanding travel restrictions currently imposed against China, Hong Kong, Macau and North Gyeongsang Province in South Korea. The planned expansion, which will be formalized through an executive order, plans to cover all countries where there is localized transmission of the coronavirus, meaning where contagion is no longer limited to people with travel history to infected areas.
If the order proceeds to the letter, that would mean banning entry from travelers coming from 67 nations tracked by the World Health Organization to have localized coronavirus transmission.
Meanwhile, as of Wednesday, CAB figures showed all 54 flights to and from Macau per week, as well as 92% of 249 China flights and 182 Hong Kong flights were already shelved. CAB told Philstar.com the balance for China and Hong Kong carries Filipino repatriates from both areas where a travel ban against foreign visitors are in effect since last month.
On the flip side, seven weekly round trip flights to and from Kuwait had likewise been canceled after the Middle Eastern nation imposed its own travel restrictions against the Philippines this month.
Qatar also announced a travel ban against the Philippines last Monday, a decision yet to be factored in flight plans since only 17% of Qatar flights were canceled as Wednesday
Flights to South Korea were also dramatically lessened despite the government lifting restrictions on Filipino travelers there merely four days after being imposed. Only 94 flights to and from Korea are flying there until March 28.
While there are no prohibitions in effect, weekly trips to and from Taiwan, Singapore, and Thailand were also decreased by 27%, 18%, and 30%, respectively, data showed.
As of Friday morning, the Philippines has confirmed 52 cases of the virus causing COVID-19, with five fatalities.
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