In a move to boost local tourism and cater to essential travel despite the new coronavirus disease 2019, carriers are embarking on low fare promos.
Philippine Airlines (PAL) said it is offering a base fare of as low as P688 for one-way economy travel between numerous local cities and PAL’s hubs in Manila, Clark, and Cebu.
Routes include Legazpi, Kalibo, Tacloban, Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Cotabato, Ozamiz, Pagadian, General Santos and Davao.
“The low fares are intended to help lift up local businesses and tourism establishments in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao in line with national economic recovery efforts,” PAL said.
Booking for these fare offerings is ongoing until further notice, giving passengers planning convenience. Passengers can also enjoy free rebooking within the same booking class, subject to terms and conditions.
The national flag carrier resumed operations in June with limited operations on international routes to the US, Asia, Europe, Australia, the Middle East and Canada. PAL also mounts all-cargo and special repatriation flights.
AirAsia Philippine meanwhile is offering all-in one-way fares from as low as P111 for domestic flights and P1,311 for international flights.
These low fares are available for booking until August 30 for travel until Oct. 30, 2021.
“Everyone can surely fly now with these low fares. We encourage everyone to take advantage of these offers for their essential travels and hopefully soon for leisure travels too when authorities allow,” said Ricky Isla, AirAsia Philippines chief executive officer.
Covered routes from Clark are Cebu, Puerto Princesa, Tacloban, and Caticlan from February 1 to March 17, 2021.
Domestic flights that are not within that special travel period are also on sale.
These are flights from Clark to Cebu, Puerto Princesa, Davao, Tacloban and Cagayan de Oro from as low as P311 to P1,211 one way, while flights from Cebu to Cagayan de Oro, Davao, Puerto Princesa, and Caticlan; and from Manila to Cebu, Kalibo, Tagbilaran, Davao and many more destinations are from P611 to P811 one way.
International destinations that are part of this sale include flights from Clark to Kaohsiung and Taipei; Cebu to Kaohsiung, Taipei, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore; and Manila to Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur, Taipei, Kaohsiung, Bali, Bangkok and Osaka.
Meanwhile, AirAsia is expecting to ramp up its domestic capacity by 60 percent in the fourth quarter this year.
The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) said aviation outlook in the Philippine remains bleak as it is severely affected by the pandemic given the travel restriction implemented since March this year.
The number of flights out of Manila from June 1 to August 31 totalled 800 flights, which is not even 2 percent of last year’s 47,224.
International inbound and outbound flights are still limited to essential travel for overseas Filipino workers, foreign nationals with long term visa, students studying abroad, accredited officials, seafarers among others.
For domestic destinations, 206 flights are scheduled out of Manila from August 19 to 31 of which 102 are by international carriers and 104 flights by domestic airlines.
To date, 32 domestic airports are operational and 17 airports are closed. (M. Iglesias, Malaya)