Cebu Pacific Airlines announced the temporary stoppage of its flights between Philippines and mainland China starting February 2 to March 29, 2020.
In a media advisory released February 1, Cebu Pacific said that this is due to the recent developments related to the spread of novel Coronavirus (2019-nCov) in all regions of China. The largest airlines in the country has flights to and from Beijing, Shanghai, Xiamen, Guangzhou, Shenzen in mainland China.
Flights between the Philippines, Hong Kong and Macau, on the other hand, have been reduced.
Passengers affected by flight cancellations have been notified through the contact details provided upon booking. They may also check the status of their flights through the Manage Booking portal in the Cebu Pacific website, https://book.cebupacificair.com/Manage/Retrieve/.
The following options are made available for passengers on cancelled flights:
- Rebook the flight (new flight date within 30 days of original travel date)
- Refund the tickets in full
- Store the value of the ticket in a Travel Fund for future use
On first confirmed 2019 nCov case who took Cebu Pacific flight
The airlines is also working closely with the Department of Health (DOH) and the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) on the necessary actions after the identification of the 38-year old Chinese female passenger confirmed to be positive with the Novel Coronavirus (NCoV) who took Cebu Pacific flights last January 21, 2020.
“We are in the process of contacting passengers seated in the vicinity of the positive NCoV patient and are taking the necessary precautions to inform them so they can have themselves checked in case they show flu-like symptoms,” Cebu Pacific said in a statement.
The company said that the aircraft used for both flights have been pulled-out of the line and are undergoing thorough disinfection. The cabin crew and pilots have also been informed and show no symptoms of illness.
To reduce the risk of infection across in all of their flights, Cebu Pacific is implementing preventive measures, which include:
- Cleaning and disinfection of aircraft in between flights
- Wearing of face masks by our employees, frontline personnel and cabin crew while on duty
- Providing face masks to passengers who show symptoms of illness
- When possible, isolation of passengers who manifest symptoms of illness in empty rows inside the aircraft during the flight
- Coordination with health authorities in case there are passengers suspected of NCoV contamination for immediate turn-over and further observation
Cebu Pacific encourages all their passengers to check the status of flights in their website https://cebupacificair.com.
