PAL struggles to continue international flights

MANILA, Philippines — Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) has mustered up enough strength to continue operating a number of international flights in the next few days amid losses.

PAL said it would operate limited international services to and from Manila in response to the government’s call to help foreign tourists return home and OFWs fly back to their places of work.

PAL flights between Manila and Los Angeles, San Francisco, Honolulu, Toronto, Vancouver, New York, London Heathrow, Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo Narita, Tokyo Haneda, Osaka Kansai, Nagoya, Fukuoka, and Guam will be operational until March 31.

However, PAL has decided to temporarily suspend services between Manila and Auckland, Port Moresby, Brisbane, Melbourne, Taipei, Jakarta, Bali, Sapporo, Phnom Penh, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Dubai from March 20 to 31, while flights to and from mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Korea, Qatar and Saudi Arabia remain suspended.

“A full restoration of PAL’s network is not possible at this time. The suspension of public transportation and other impediments to movement within and into Metro Manila, due to the ongoing community quarantine, have limited the manpower levels at Manila airport,” PAL said in a statement yesterday.

“Travel bans and restrictions imposed by various governments have forced the cancellation of some routes and significantly reduced actual travel between countries amid the COVID-19 situation,” it said.

The country’s flag carrier is “marshaling resources to operate limited international services on selected routes for March 20 and beyond” with the government’s lifting of the 72-hour window for international travel.