PAL, Cebu Pacific, Air Asia cancel Taiwan flights amid nCoV travel ban
MANILA, Philippines (Update 2, 4:48 p.m.) — Three air carriers have canceled flights to Taiwan after the government expanded its travel ban to include the island in a bid to contain the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus.
Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific on Tuesday morning announced the cancelation of flights between Manila and Taipei until further notice.
AirAsia also announced Tuesday afternoon that flights to and from Taipei and Kaohsiung have been canceled.
“AirAsia is complying with advice and regulations from the local government, civil aviation authorities, global and local health agencies, including the World Health Organization,” it said.
The Philippine government temporarily bans Filipino nationals from travelling to Taiwan. It also bars the entry of foreigners who come directly from the island.
Here are the canceled flights:
Philippine Airlines
- PR890/891 – Manila-Taipei-Manila
- PR894/895 – Manila-Taipei-Manila
Cebu Pacific
- 5J 312 – Manila-Taipei
- 5J310 – Manila-Taipei
- 5J 311 – Taipei-Manila (starting February 12)
- 5J 313 – Taipei-Manila
AirAsia (February 11 to March 28)
- Z2 124 – Manila-Taipei
- Z2 125 – Taipei-Manila
- Z2 128 – Manila-Taipei
- Z2 129 – Taipei-Manila
- Z2 132 – Manila-Kaohsiung
- Z2 133 – Kaohsiung-Manila
- Z2 5134 – Clark-Kaohsiung
- Z2 5135 – Kaohsiung-Clark
- Z2 7140 – Cebu-Taipei
- Z2 7141 – Taipei-Cebu
- Z2 7148 – Cebu-Taipei
- Z2 7149 – Taipei-Cebu
- Z2 7134 – Cebu-Kaohsiung
- Z2 7135 – Kaohsiung-Cebu
- Z2 024 – Kalibo-Taipei
- Z2 025 – Taipei-Kalibo
- Z2 5126 – Clark-Taipei
- Z2 5127 – Taipei-Clark
PAL advised its passengers with flights to and from Taiwan from February 11 to await the lifting of the ban.
“If your flight was canceled, you may refund your ticket at any time, with refund fees waived. Once the travel ban is lifted and we reinstate our flights, you may rebook, reroute or refund your ticket within your ticket’s validity period, with rebooking, rerouting or refund fees waived,” the airline said.
Cebu Pacific also allows passengers whose flights have been canceled to rebook the flight, refund the tickets in full or store the value of the ticket in a travel fund for future use.
More than 450,000 Filipinos visited Taiwan in 2019, according to the country’s tourism board.
Early in February, President Rodrigo Duterte first issued a travel ban against foreign nationals from China and its special administrative regions Hong Kong and Macau.
The order bars passenger of any nationality who has been to China, Hong Kong and Macau within 14 days before coming to the Philippines from entering the country.
Only Filipino citizens and aliens with permanent resident visas from said countries may be allowed to enter the Philippines.
The new coronavirus that emerged in China at the end of 2019 has killed over 1,000 people and infected 40,000 in the country.
It has spread to nearly 30 countries. There have been two deaths outside mainland China: one in the Philippines and the other in Hong Kong.
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