Ikinalugod ng local air carriers Philippine Airlines (PAL), Cebu Pacific (CEB) at AirAsia Philippines ang paglalabas ng Department of Health (DOH) ng Circular 2023-06 na nagsasabing, “all arriving international travelers are accepted regardless of their vaccination status”.
Sakop ng nasabing circular lahat ng mga airports at seaports sa bansa at ito ay kasunod ng anunsyo ng Department of Transportation na inaalis na ang obligadong pagsusuot ng face masks sa mga sasakyang pampubliko.
Ayon sa tatlong airline companies, “welcome” sa kanila ang nasabing development at inaasahan umano nila ang paglago ng international travel dahil mas magiging ‘seamless’ na o walang sagabal ang kanilang paglalakbay sa pag-alis ng ‘vaccine certificate mandate’ para sa inbound papasok na foreign travelers, na naging epektibo noong August 12, 2023.
“We welcome this development that further eases travel to the Philippines and helps boost inbound tourist traffic. We look forward to serving more tourist and business travelers in both our international and domestic travel sectors. We will continue to work on enhancing the passenger experience through digital transformation and fleet expansion,” ani PAL spokesperson Cielo Villaluna.
Sinabi naman ni Carmina Romero, Cebu Pacific spokesperson, na: “With this development making travel more seamless as we still encourage passengers to continue practicing minimum health standards such as washing hands, disinfecting and physical distancing when necessary.”
Samantala ay sinabi naman ni AirAsia Philippines Head for Communications and Public Affairs and First Officer Steve Dailisan na, “Since the pandemic, the vaccine certificate has been the most essential travel requirement for inbound tourists. The lifting of this travel requirement is a major step towards making travel more seamless and will definitely encourage travelers, regardless of vaccination status, to experience the Philippines. This is also very timely now that we are a few days away from welcoming the “Ber” months, the usual peak of travel in the Philippines.”
Ayon naman kay Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) Officer-In-Charge general manager Bryan Co, patuloy na prayoridad ng MIAA ang ‘health and safety’ ng lahat ng manlalakbay at airport personnel at habang patuloy ang pag—alis ng mga restrictions, mananatiling alerto ang ahensiya sa pagbabantay ng sitwasyon at lagi umano itong hand ana suportahan ang DOH sa pagtupad ng mandato nito.
“I am sure this development will boost existing efforts of the MIAA and the tourism sector to promote the Philippines as a prefered destination, ” ani Co.
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