Qatar, Saudia Not Happy Too!
4 November 2021
Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA) has clamped down on Philippine-based carriers after the Philippine government imposed its flight restrictions into the country amidst covid19 pandemic.
According to source inside the Philippine's Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), Dubai regulator wanted compliance to the UAE-RP Air Services Agreement, which means permitting entry into the country of at least 1,000 passengers a day from the Gulf State.
The Philippines has capped entry into the country to 6,000 passengers per day due to quarantine restrictions imposed by the National Task Force for Emerging and Infectious Diseases (IATF).
Manila International Airport was
limited to handle 3,000 passengers per day from the earlier 1,200 passengers, Mactan Cebu was doubled to 2,000, while the balance is distributed between Clark, Davao and Subic.
The CAB personnel said DCAA wanted 1,000 of this 6,000 daily allotments, which request was denied, as allocations into the country is distributed to different countries with substantial Filipino population. Dubai is merely one of them. Same request for exemption was also filed by Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
The Philippine response was not taken lightly by DCAA as it also restricted entry into Dubai to 140 passengers per flight, the same number allocated by the Philippines for entry to Manila airport.
DCAA directive has forced Philippine Airlines (PAL) and Cebu Pacific (CEB) to cancel and divert their flights to Dubai as it was not granting them entry for additional passengers beyond the allocation. The new restrictions took effect at the beginning of winter timetable on 27 October.
In an airline advisory, PAL has cancelled flights on October 31 and November 1 and 2, due to Dubai flight restrictions.
PAL spokesperson Cielo Villaluna said their flight for November 3, 4, and 6 from Dubai will be rerouted to Davao while the November 5 flights will be routed to and from Cebu, instead of Manila.
“Using these alternate gateways will allow us to transport our passengers between the UAE and the Philippines in the coming days.” says Villaluna.
CEB said its Dubai-Davao flights have been in place since October 21, while its Dubai-Cebu flights started on October 29 after passenger restrictions were relaxed.
“We offer ex-Dubai straight to either Davao or Cebu so we can accommodate more passengers coming home,” said CEB spokesperson Pao Lim.
“Then we provide free flights to Manila after they’ve completed their required quarantine. There are no passenger flights exiting Cebu or Davao to Dubai, only Manila-Dubai, ” adds Lim.
PAL and CEB is preparing flight diversion to fly to Sharjah, another Emirate, just a 30-minute drive to Dubai.
CAB said there is no flight restrictions from going outside the country, particularly Dubai. What IATF restricted is the inflow of passengers coming overseas sufficient to be handled by quarantine facilities in Manila, Cebu, Davao, Clark and Subic.
The CAB official said they are already talking with their counterparts in Dubai to resolve issue soon as the country prepares gradual opening on November 15.
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