Davao-China flights may resume by April

THE suspension of direct flights from Davao to Jinjiang and Hong Kong has been extended until the end of March, according to Davao airport's operations center (Opcen).

Opcen assistant manager Kristine Habla bared that Xiamen Airlines, in an advisory dated February 26, extended its flight suspension from March 8 to 29, 2020.

On February 1, the Office of the Chinese Consulate General of Davao through a Facebook post, announced that Xiamen Airlines canceled all its Davao to Jinjiang direct flights for the whole month of February.

For the Davao to Hong Kong flights serviced by Cathay Dragon Airlines, Habla said based on the notice provided by the airlines dated February 6, the suspension is from February 11 to March 27.

In an earlier interview with ABS-CBN, Davao International Airport (DIA) airport manager Rex Obcena said the suspension was initially from February 11 to February 28.

Habla also said, in an advisory dated February 17, Cebu Pacific Air (CebPac) also suspended its Saturday flights from Davao to Singapore and vice versa.

She said, however, that its flights on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays are still operational.

The flight cancellations done by the airlines at the start of February are preventive measures to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, which causes the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

Obcena said the airlines are continuously monitoring the situation of the disease to see if there is a need to extend the flight suspensions.

"Siguro towards the end of March, mga third week, diha pa ta makabalo kung magresume pa ba sila or dili. Sa pagkakaron, it is too early to tell kay ang ilang kompanya mag sige pa nag continue og monitor (Maybe around the third week of March, we will know if the flights will resume or not. For now, it is too early to tell because the airlines are still monitoring the situation)," he said.

"Kung naay mga significant developments in the coming days, saka sila magdecide (They will decide If there will be significant developments in the coming days)," he added.

Meanwhile, Habla said other airlines such as Air Asia and Philippine Airlines have not advised suspensions as of the moment.