SAN JOSE, Antique – The Philippine Airlines (PAL) will resume its Manila to Antique flights on June 28, provided it meets the load requirement.
PAL Iloilo branch manager Ricky dela Cruz said the management would open its operations from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 2 in Manila to the Antique Airport in this capital town.
“We just have to meet the 90 percent load of the 86-seater airplane,” dela Cruz said after his meeting with Gov. Rhodora Cadiao at the Capitol on June 23.
According to dela Cruz, the 90 percent load of an airplane would be equivalent to 78 passengers. The first flight would take off at the NAIA 2 between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. on Sunday.
“The same number of passengers is expected to be flown to Manila,” he added.
The availability of the flights depends on whether the number of passengers would reach the required load or not.
Dela Cruz said the flights would be considered special ones because unlike in other airports, the passengers of the Manila-Antique flights would not be limited to locally stranded individuals (LSIs) and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) only.
“The PAL flights in Antique are special because the province is willing to let people not necessarily LSIs or OFWs to take the flights,” said dela Cruz.
Cadiao, for her part, said that as long as the passengers could present a certificate from their respective municipal health offices and a travel pass from their police stations, they could take the PAL flights to Antique.
“We will also not be requiring those arriving in Antique to be quarantined,” she said.
According to Cadiao, the Antique Provincial Tourism Office (APTO) would facilitate the inbound passengers.
“The APTO will call the local government units (LGUs) about the arrival of their respective residents,” she said.
Meanwhile, passengers who will proceed to nearby provinces after arriving in this province would have to take public utility vehicles if their respective LGUs would not fetch them.
This province’s airport was closed during the implementation of the enhanced community quarantine starting March 16 to curb the spread of coronavirus disease 2019.
PAL, the lone aircraft carrier providing commercial flights to this province before the lockdown, used to fly from Clark to Antique and vice versa.
Dela Cruz, however, said since Clark Airport is still not open for domestic operations, they are temporarily flying from NAIA Terminal 2 to Antique.(With a report from PNA/PN)
