MANILA – Local carriers -- Philippine Airlines (PAL), Cebu Pacific (CEB), and AirAsia Philippines -- are so far not affected by the restrictions in Taiwan's airspace, their spokespersons confirmed Thursday.
"We are closely monitoring the situation in Taiwan. We have received the Notice to Airmen from Taiwan aviation authorities regarding a specific airspace closure from 12 noon of August 4 to 12 noon of August 7. Our flight to and from Taipei today -- PR890/892 --operated as scheduled utilizing a designated cleared flight routing," Cielo Villaluna said, adding that the carrier assures regular coordination with Taiwan authorities.
CEB's Carmina Romero told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) that no flights are affected, so far.
"We currently only accommodate essential travel between Manila and Taipei, Taiwan on a once-weekly flight (every Wednesday). We are monitoring the situation, but there are no changes in our network as of now," Romero said.
AirAsia Philippines, on the other hand, is yet to resume its operations between Manila and Taiwan in September, depending on market sentiments and travel restrictions.
"In view of safety, we will observe the no-fly zone advisory over Taiwan airspace while en route to our other destinations such as Seoul, South Korea, until further notice," Steve Dailisan told the PNA.
Pre-pandemic, AirAsia Philippines flies to Taipei and Kaohsiung, Taiwan from the Manila, Clark, Cebu, and Kalibo hubs.
The airline eyes the resumption of Cebu-Taiwan operations in November, while the other flights are expected to return fully by the first or second quarter of 2023, Dailisan said.
It was reported that China has warned airlines to avoid the Taiwan airspace due to military drills it would conduct from Thursday to Sunday. (PNA)
