Manila-Wuhan flights suspended
Credit to Author: Benjamin L. Vergara, TMT| Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2020 13:02:09 +0000
THE Philippines’ Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) suspended the direct flights of two airlines from Manila to Wuhan, the country’s aviation regulator announced on Thursday in a bid to stop the spread of the deadly coronavirus that has killed at least nine people in the Chinese city and has reached the United States.
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said the CAB suspension was on Pan Pacific and Royal Air, which chartered passengers from Wuhan to Kalibo International Airport in Aklan.
CAAP spokesman Eric Apolonio said that the operators of the two chartered flights were now locating its passengers to bring them back to Wuhan.
“They have the names of their passengers, kaya hindi mahirap hanapin (it’s easy to find them),” Apolonio said.
The two chartered planes fly to Manila from Wuhan three times a week and vice versa.
Pan Pacific, which started operations on April 27, 2017, also serves the South Korean market. Its main hubs are Kalibo International Airport, Mactan-Cebu International Airport and Clark International Airport. The Royal Air began operations as a budget airline on Dec. 14, 2018 from its hub in Clark, Pampanga.
Wu-han is the capital and major industrial and commercial city of Hubei sheng province in China. It is located at the confluence of the Han and Yangtze rivers and consists of three adjacent former cities—Hankou (Hankow), Hanyang, and Wuchang, according to www.britannica.com
The coronavirus has caused alarm because of its similarity to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which killed about 650 people across mainland China and Hong Kong from 2002 to 2003.