DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 18 Nov) – A total of 41 flights from Davao to Manila and vice versa have been cancelled from November 15 to 20 to give way for the arrival of heads of states attending the APEC Leaders’ Summit in Manila.
In an advisory issued on Tuesday by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), the cancellations of flights started on Sunday, affecting passengers of Manila-Davao-Manila flights of Philippine Airlines (PAL).
On Tuesday, Cebu Pacific had six flights cancelled, Philippine Airlines (PAL) had eight, and AirAsia had two.
In an interview with MindaNews on Tuesday, Marican Batucan, an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, said she was scheduled to leave for Manila at 1:20 p.m. on Tuesday via Cebu Pacific but her flight was rebooked to 3:05 p.m. She was in the city for a vacation and was about to return to her work in Riyadh as a phlebotomist.
She said her flight for Riyadh was rebooked to November 23.
“I learned that my flight was cancelled only yesterday when Cebu Pacific sent me an email,” Batucan said, but added that she understands the cancellation because of the APEC Summit.
Garry Bilbar, who was traveling with his workmate Andres Rapada, said their flight to Manila set to leave at 2:05 p.m. on Tuesday was also cancelled
The two are both workers of Magna Diesel Trading based in Manila who were sent to Davao for a work-related project. They said they were informed of the cancellation by Cebu Pacific in the morning of the same day.
Bilbar said Cebu Pacific told them that they will be rescheduled for a flight on November 23 or catch the early morning flight on Wednesday as chance passengers.
He insisted that they instead be accommodated in a Davao-Clark flight on Tuesday and just take the bus ride going to Manila. “But the Davao-Clark flight is not sure yet,” he added.
On Wednesday, a Manila-Davao flight of Cebu Pacific was cancelled while PAL cancelled its Manila-Davao-Manila flights. For Thursday, Cebu Pacific has cancelled three flights while PAL will do the same for six of its flights.
For Friday, five Cebu Pacific flights and two PAL flights have been cancelled.
A PAL official, who refused to be named, told MindaNews that affected passengers have been informed ahead of the cancellations and were rescheduled already for the next available flights.
No complaints from affected passengers have so far been received, the source said.
