Travelers sit with their luggage outside the closed Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan in central China’s Hubei Province, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020. Overnight, Wuhan authorities announced that the airport and train stations would be closed, and all public transportation suspended by 10 a.m. Friday. Unless they had a special reason, the government said, residents should not leave Wuhan, the sprawling central Chinese city of 11 million that’s the epicenter of an epidemic that has infected nearly 600 people. | Chinatopix via AP
CEBU CITY, Philippines – The Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Civil Aeronautics Boards (CAB) have suspended indefinitely all of the country’s direct flights to and from Wuhan City, China.
In a joint press statement issued on Friday, January 24, 2020, DOTr and CAB said the decision was reached as a precautionary measure to prevent the possible entry and threat of 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in the Philippines.
“In his report to Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, CAB Executive Director Carmelo Arcilla said that the move aims to prevent the possible further spread and transmission of the novel coronavirus,” it added.
Based on the statement, two airline companies – Royal Air Charter Services and Pan Pacific Air, are serving direct flights from Wuhan City to Kalibo International Airport in Aklan province, and vice versa.
“The CAB said the order to suspend airline operations will be without prejudice to the flights to be made by Royal Air Charter Services on January 24 and 27, 2020 as well as that of Pan Pacific Air on January 23 and 25, 2020 for the sole purpose of ferrying their charter passengers back to Wuhan,” the statement stated.
“Provided, that no passengers shall be carried from its return flight from Wuhan to the Philippines and, provided further, that both airline shall exercise extraordinary vigilance in ensuring the health and safety of its passengers and crews,” it added.
Read the full statement below
DOTr and CAB also revealed that they have taken into consideration the decision of Scoot Airlines, the budget airline arm of Singapore Airlines in Singapore, and China Airline in Taiwan to suspend their direct flights to Wuhan.
Read: 2 airlines to suspend Wuhan flights after coronavirus scare
This developed after the two airline companies manifested their intention to suspend their operations amid the threat of the 2019 -nCoV, which originated in Wuhan City in Hubei province of Central China that has reportedly sickened over 800 individuals, and claimed 25 lives as of Friday, January 24, 2020.
The two transportation bureaus have also ordered all airline companies operating in the country to continuously monitor events related to the threat of the 2019-nCoV. /bmjo