International flights restriction at NAIA to stay despite GCQ

Last updated on May 7th, 2021 at 06:29 am

MANILA – International flights at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport will remain restricted despite the easing of community quarantine protocols in Metro Manila, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said on Friday.

Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said travel restrictions that existed under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and modified ECQ will still remain unless the restrictions are futher eased or lifted by the government.

Morente said that this will cause the operations on the airport to downscale and require the personnel to work on skeletal and rotational deployment.

The restriction will also affect Filipinos and foreigners who wished to enter or depart the country.

However, the Bureau of Immigration assured the public that NAIA are always ready to resume full and normal operations once the restrictions on international flights are lifted.

Since the lockdown in mid-March, International flights remain limited and restricted. Most of the international flights are mostly repatriations flights to transport returning overseas Filipino workers and sweeper flights that brings the foreigners back to their homelands. Under existing guidelines approved by the Inter-Agency Task Force Against Infectious Diseases (IATF), Filipinos are not allowed to leave the country unless they are OFWs, holders of student visa or permanent resident in their country of destination.

Read More: https://www.theasianaffairs.com/philippines/2020/05/29/duterte-approves-metro-manilas-shift-to-gcq-beginning-june-1/