PAL SCHEDULES SPECIAL CHINA FLIGHT

FLAG carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) will have a special flight on February 10 to ferry stranded passengers to and from China, PAL spokesman Cielo Villaluna said.

“The special PAL flights serving the Manila-Xiamen and XiamenManila routes will be staffed with pilots and cabin crew who volunteered for the service,” the spokesman said in a statement.

PAL, she bared, might use its 199- seater Airbus A321 for the mission.

The flight from Xiamen will enable Filipino citizens and holders of Philippine permanent resident visas to fly back to the Philippines.

The flight from Manila will allow Chinese and other non-Filipino citizens to return to mainland China via Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport, which is a gateway to other points in China.

PAL had to cancel its mainland China flights since February 2 after the government banned Filipinos from traveling to China and its special autonomous regions Hong Kong and Macau, along with restrictions barring foreign nationals from China from entering the Philippines, except for those holding Philippine-issued Permanent Resident Visas.

Flight PR334 will leave Manila for Xiamen at 7: 30 a. m. on February 10, arriving at 9: 55 a. m. The return PR335 flight will depart Xiamen at 11: 05 a. m. and arrive in Manila at 1: 05 p. m. on February 10.

Villaluna said the special flights were subject to final government approvals, including the waiver of the travel ban for concerned pilots and cabin crew who must submit to home quarantine for 14 days after their return to the Philippines.

PAL said 64 of its crew were put on mandated 14-day quarantine after flying in from China prior to the imposed travel ban. All PAL crew are Filipino officials.