- Vaccination card accepted for fully vaccinated tourists in 12 AirAsia destinations in lieu of RT-PCR test result
- AirAsia Philippines growing flight frequency toward summer to sustain travel rebound momentum
International leisure travelers may now visit their favorite AirAsia destinations in the Philippines hassle-free as the government further relaxed travel protocols for fully vaccinated visitors coming from abroad.
AirAsia Philippines destinations which include Clark, Cebu, Cagayan De Oro, Caticlan, Davao, General Santos, Iloilo, Kalibo, Tagbilaran (Panglao), Puerto Princesa, Tacloban and Zamboanga have started to accept fully vaccinated foreign visitors with only their vaccination cards as entry requirement. Partially vaccinated tourists will also be allowed entry provided they submit a negative RT-PCR test result.
AirAsia Philippines Spokesperson Steve Dailisan said, “We are thrilled about the latest development, as the months of March, April and May are enticing months for foreign travelers especially those who love tropical islands and diving destinations. We truly commend the government’s effort to relax the country’s travel protocol and open its borders to fully vaccinated foreign travelers. The much anticipated foreign arrivals will likely jumpstart our tourism industry as we move forward towards post-pandemic recovery.”
Data from the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) showed that 79,337 international tourists arrived in the country from 1 to 17 February with 91% fully vaccinated against COVID-19. This may still be far from the recorded 439,852 foreign arrivals in the same month pre pandemic in 2020, however, it is also considered a significant leap from the recorded foreign arrivals in February 2021 with only 9,005 according to the Department of Tourism.
These numbers are expected to exponentially increase especially given the national government has resolved the issue on the standardization of international vaccine certificates.
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has decided to honor the vaccination cards of 12 additional countries – namely Argentina, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Chile, Denmark, Ecuador, Indonesia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Portugal, and Spain as valid entry travel requirement.
To support the influx of foreign visitors in the country, AirAsia Philippines has also increased its flight frequency to almost double for the month of March.
Beginning March 2022, AirAsia flights to Caticlan will be increased to 34x weekly, Iloilo – 14x weekly, Tacloban – 24x weekly, Panglao – 14x weely, Puerto Princesa – 9x weekly, Bacolod – 14x weekly, Davao – 11x weekly, Cagayan De Oro – 9x weekly, Kalibo – 11x weekly and Cebu – 21x weekly.
“The increase in our flight frequency is part of our commitment to make sure that we will be able to prop up and support the demand towards summer. Part of the overall hassle-free journey of our guests is the choices in flight schedules which fit their itinerary on top of the hotels and activities which they can find exclusively under Super App’s SNAP”, Dailisan added.
AirAsia Philippines is scheduled to open two new routes – Dumaguete in April and Roxas in June. Guests can also expect to return to their favorite regional destinations with the reopening of the Bangkok and Bali flights next month and Incheon in April on top of the existing Singapore and Hong Kong flights.