FLAG carrier Philippine Airlines, Inc. (PAL) on Thursday said it has proposed to pilot test a “no facility quarantine protocol” for vaccinated passengers from North America.
The policy will cover “North American vaccinated passengers arriving in the Philippines and… Filipinos fully vaccinated in the Philippines who traveled to North America and are returning to the country,” PAL Senior Vice-President for Strategy Dexter C. Lee said in an e-mailed statement.
Mr. Lee said the airline coordinated with Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Jose Ma. “Joey” A. Concepcion III and OCTA Research group on the matter.
“Our suggestions have received positive feedback and are now with the IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force) Technical Working Group for further deliberation,” he noted.
Official announcement on the matter will emanate from the IATF.
In September, PAL also sought to shorten the quarantine period for all arriving passengers from abroad.
PAL has filed for Chapter 11 creditor protection in the United States.
Its listed holding company, PAL Holdings, Inc. (not included in the Chapter 11 filing), had been incurring losses even before the global health crisis. Its attributable net loss widened to P71.91 billion in 2020 from P10.31 billion in 2019. — Arjay L. Balinbin