We all know that commercial aviation is going through heavy turbulence right now. In fact, this Covid-19 crisis is the worse crisis ever in aviation industry. However, is there still hope? Of course there is. In fact, we are also the solution to the problem. Hence, we now give you simple and effective ways to help rebuild our airline industry.
What is holding back Philippine carriers from recovering?
Before we dig into the solutions, let us first look into the many problems that the airline industry is facing. In other countries like the USA and China, commercial airlines are on their way to recovery. Air travel is slowly normalizing. In the Philippines however, things are far from getting better at this point. It’s like there is no hope in sight as of the moment.
What exactly are stopping the Philippine commercial aviation industry from recovering? In other places, domestic travel are helping the airlines recover. However in the Philippines, even domestic travel cannot recover.
Flight caps
The government has imposed a maximum number of inbound passengers to NAIA per day. This, according to the PHL government, is to further prevent the entry of more variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. We are not sure what’s the basis of the authorities to determine the flight cap. Is it due to the lack of testing capabilities and quarantine facilities? Currently, the flight cap or number of inbound international passengers that can enter NAIA is 2,000 between all local and foreign airlines. If you will half this between three major airlines in the country, that means 667 inbound passengers per airline per day. This number would mean just one packed widebody and narrowbody aircraft. Or we can say, 3 to 4 packed narrowbodies. At the end of the day, airlines then have to slash down or cut capacity. This have resulted to cancelled flights and more stranded passengers.
Today, the flight cap is still at 2,000 from the previous cap of 1,500. While the additional 500 did help, it is still far from the safe number for airlines to recover.
We do understand that flight caps were placed to control the spread of virus however, is this reasonable? Did it really give significant results in trying to control the spread of the virus? Or did it just do more trouble for the aviation industry.
We hope that the government can think of other ways to help our aviation industry stop bleeding. Aviation is very important, especially for an archipelago like the Philippines. There may be other innovative ways to mitigate the spread of the virus without having to place flight caps for inbound flights.
Different travel documents and requirements per LGU
Traveling within the Philippines nowadays is just like travel to international destinations. Each LGU have different travel documents and requirements. There are also a lot of restrictions for domestic travel, in fact, there is no difference when you travel domestic and international. Sometimes, getting these travel requirements from LGUs take long and you really do have to go to the offices. Some LGUs do also have mandatory quarantine requirements. As such, more people are hesitant to travel due to these requirements for domestic travel.
Essential Travel for Domestic flights
Prior to the surge in covid-19 cases, non-essential or leisure travel was already permitted. However, the move to put Metro Manila under the strictest lockdown status due to the covid surge has forced air travel to once again be restricted. Flights were once again limited to essential travels only. LGUs began imposing requirements for people traveling from Metro Manila and nearby places. Domestic travel was supposed to be the first step towards recovery, however, ‘it was shot down once again from the sky’.
We have been on a lockdown for months already and a lot of Filipinos want to travel. Proof of this? Have you seen how full flights to Boracay were when travel requirements were eased? Yes that’s exactly how much people want to travel again however, external factors are pushing them to think otherwise. Domestic travel would have recovered by now.
On the flipside of things, government authorities have implemented these restrictions in order to stop the spread of the coronavirus and its new variants. This is definitely most understood but do these restrictions actually help? Or are they causing more damage to the travel and tourism industry? Is there a better way we can help control the spread of covid-19 while allowing domestic travel to flourish?
We can help rebuild our airline industry
It does not need rocket science to help build back the Philippine commercial aviation industry. While the government’s decisions and actions would count a lot, we too can do our part. The solutions are actually simple:
- Always follow health and safety protocols. Wear a face mask, face shield, and maintain physical distancing. The root cause is still the spread of the virus and the first way to counter the spread is to always follow these basic health protocols. If only we follow this and the spread of the virus is placed under control, then no doubt the government and LGUs will ease all travel restrictions.
- Plan your trips in advance. Take advantage of airline promos but travel on a date later on like the second half of the year or so. As more people are vaccinated with covid-19 vaccines, we are hoping that conditions will improve by the second half of the year.
- Don’t be afraid to fly in an airplane. It is even safer to ride in an aircraft than to dine-in at a restaurant outside. So go travel when restrictions have been tapered down.
- Stop sharing fake news that causes fear on air travel. We have seen many journalists and even mainstream media outfits broadcast unconfirmed or false news, Always do your research. Example is how some people can spread that a lot of contamination happens on board an aircraft wherein their claims are not backed by facts. Aviation websites should give you the correct answers. We also have to build confidence on air travel.
Aviation is important. This should be on the priority list
The local aviation industry is a very important one which should never be disregarded. Connectivity is a need, and no longer a want. Air travel and aviation provides a faster means to connect the world and transport cargo.
The local airlines are very important in the rebuilding of our nation. Lets rally behind our local airlines. And we hope the PHL government would not put more notice to the welfare of this bleeding industry which is very essential.
It is time that we help rebuild our airline industry.
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