Monday, January 17, 2022

PAL issues “No Vaccination, No Fly” Policy starting today

As per the DOTr order issued last week, flag carrier Philippine Airlines is enforcing the NO VACCINATION, NO FLY for Domestic Flights policy starting today, January 17, 2022.

This means the airlines can and will deny boarding for any passengers who are not fully vaccinated on any flights to and from destinations that have Alert Level 3 or higher. This includes Metro Manila which is the main hub of most PAL flights. This policy also covers domestic flights only as international flights are covered by a different regulation.

Here’s the full copy of the announcement sent by PAL yesterday.

Dear Valued Passenger,

Effective January 17, 2022, airlines are only allowed to accept fully vaccinated passengers for carriage on our domestic flights to and from Manila.

This requirement was imposed by the Philippine Department of Transportation (DOTr) and is valid for as long as the Metro Manila area (National Capital Region – NCR) remains under Alert Level 3 or higher. The requirement applies to all domestic travel to and from NCR, including the travel of individuals who reside outside NCR but who work inside NCR.

Travelers are considered fully vaccinated if at least two weeks have elapsed after their second dose of a two-dose COVID vaccine, or two weeks after receiving a single-dose COVID vaccine. You are required to present physical or digital copies of a vaccine card issued by your local government unit (LGU), or a vaccine certification issued by the Department of Health (DOH), or any document prescribed by the IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease); as well as a valid government-issued identification card (ID) with your picture and address.

The DOTr order is here: https://bit.ly/NoVaxNoRideDOTR.

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However, PAL can accept unvaccinated individuals, including minors, who can present:

A duly signed medical certification with the doctor’s name and contact details that states that their medical condition prevents full COVID-19 vaccination; or
Appropriate proof (e.g., barangay health pass) to support that their travel is to procure essential goods and services (e.g., medicine, medical devices, medical and dental necessities, public utilities, etc).

Children 11 years old and below can be accepted on PAL flights without the need for a medical certificate, but should still present proof of essential travel, and must follow the LGU requirements for their destination. Please be ready to present proof of the child’s age if requested.

We seek your kind understanding, as we are required to comply with government directives for the safety of all travelers and our communities. We reiterate that the new directives apply only on domestic flights to and from Manila; our other domestic flights do not fall under these restrictions.

If the new directive prevents you from traveling, and you purchased your ticket prior to January 17, 2022, and booked for travel on any date from January 17 to January 31, 2022, your ticket is safe and remains valid, and you may avail of the following options:

Convert your ticket to Travel Credits equivalent to the unused base fare of your ticket. Voucher validity is one year (1) year from date of issuance.
Rebook or reroute your ticket to another flight with available space within 60 days from the original flight in the same cabin class.
Refund ticket without penalties, excluding Ticketing Service Charge.

No show fees will be collected if your confirmed reservation was not cancelled at least four hours before your booked flight departure time.

You may request the above through our MyPAL Request Hub facility at www.bit.ly/MPRHPAL.

For such rebooking requests and transactions, we encourage you to use our MyPAL Request Hub rather than call our PAL customer hotline (which is presently unable to fully accommodate the very high volume of calls and requests). If you purchased your ticket through a travel agent, please deal directly with your agent.

Passengers are still mandated to comply with the Local Government rules and requirements for their destination.