MANILA, (PNA) — Philippine Airlines and its affiliate PAL Express on Saturday said that all of their flights to and from Zamboanga City will be cancelled until Sept. 21 after the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) indefinitely suspended commercial operations in that city.
PAL said more than 5,000 passengers have been affected since the closure of Zamboanga International Airport last Sept. 9.
PAL operates three times a day flight from Zamboanga to Manila, while PAL Express has flights from Zamboanga to Cebu, Davao, Jolo, and Tawi-tawi.
PAL is closely coordinating with government and the Philippine Air Force (PAF) in the ferry operations of stranded passengers out of Zamboanga to Cebu where they can be accommodated by PAL on any of the 12 daily flights to Manila.
Last Friday,, the first batch of 80 PAL passengers arrived in Cebu on board a PAF C-130 cargo plane. Arrangements are also made for the more than 450 passengers from Jolo who are Muslim pilgrims bound for Mecca via Manila.