FLAG carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) will fly to London on Saturday in response to “an urgent public need” to fly out passengers stranded by the enhanced community quarantine prompted by the urgent need to contain the deadly coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
The PAL flight is part of the last batch of recovery flights out of the Philippines this weekend to ferry the rest of the estimated 3,000 European tourists trapped in the country’s tourist spots when the government imposed a monthlong travel ban between Luzon island and the rest of the country.
Earlier, 2,000 tourists from the EU were able to leave the country via recovery flights that were allowed to come in on March 18 and during succeeding days. The special flights were made possible through close coordination between the stranded passengers’ embassies and the Departments of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and of Tourism (DOT), and and local government units that helped stranded tourists travel to Manila and Cebu for the flight home. Their delayed flights were able to leave last Monday.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. said on Twitter the tourists who will be leaving in sweeper flights are stranded in Palawan, Siargao, Dumaguete, Iloilo, Bohol, Caticlan, Surigao, Tacloban, Mindanao and Bacolod, and bound for flights to to Cebu and Manila.
On Saturday, PAL flight PR0-720 will leave Ninoy Aquino International Airport for London’s Heathrow airport at around 8:10 a.m., and fly back to Manila at around 1:35 p.m. the following day.
PAL spokesman Cielo Villaluna said “despite the cancellation of regular international and domestic flights until April 14, PAL is operating this special one-off service to the UK to help stranded travelers fly home.”
The Manila-London flight will carry only British nationals in compliance with current Covid-related restrictions imposed by the United Kingdom’s immigration authorities.
The return flight from London to Manila, on the other hand, will be allowed to carry only Filipino passengers and their foreign spouse and children, and accredited officials of foreign governments and international organizations, to comply with current Philippine travel entry restrictions.
PAL’s special London service will utilize an Airbus A350-900, which can seat 295 passengers.
Austrians, Swiss, French passengers
Earlier, over 200 Austrian tourists were fetched by sweeper flights organized by the Austrian Embassy in Manila for stranded Austrian and European tourists.
Several European tourists spent their days sleeping in the open air outside of the airport’s Terminal 1 last week after most of them checked out of their respective hotels following the lockdown announcement. They have since appealed to their respective governments to be taken out of the country.
The two B777s used for chartered Austrian sweeper flights were delayed by the Lionair accident Sunday night, but were eventually able to depart Naia Monday morning.
The Swiss government and its Embassy in Manila spearheaded efforts to bring home 230 Swiss and 100 EU citizens on a chartered Qatar Airways plane.
The European Union (EU) in the Philippines said one recovery flight left Naia for France last Monday and two more recovery flights were scheduled last Tuesday.
Earlier, Norwegian Ambassador Bjørn Jahnsen thanked Locsin and Undersecretary for Civilian Security and Consular Concerns Atty. Brigido “Dodo” Dulay, who made it possible for the Europeans to board their flights at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport last March 28.
Dulay was in Cebu last weekend to supervise the departures of the Europeans. He said 209 Swedes, Norwegians and Danes flew out of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport for Copenhagen via Phuket on a special flight of the Kingdom of Denmark.
Many of the foreign ministers expressed their thanks to Locsin for his efforts to allow the trapped foreigners to board the recovery flights.
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