Air Philippines and Cebu Pacific cancel UAE flights until June 15

The government has extended its ban on travellers from the UAE, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Oman

Cebu Pacific has cancelled flights between Dubai and Manila until June 15. Courtesy Masakatsu Ukon / Flickr

Following a decision by the Philippines government to extend its ban on travellers from the UAE, Cebu Pacific and Air Philippines have cancelled flights between Manila and Dubai for a further two weeks.

Cebu Pacific has announced it will not operate any services between the two countries until at least June 15.

All affected passengers are being informed directly and are able to select from three refund options, within 30 days of their departure date. Options include unlimited rebooking, where any fare difference is waived if travel is within 90 days of the original flight; a two-year travel fund, where the amount is stored in a virtual wallet to be used to either book a new flight or pay for add-ons; or a straight refund, although, because of the high volume of requests, this may take up to seven months to process.

Cebu Pacific permanently removed all change fees in March. It will continue to operate all other domestic and international flights as scheduled.

On Monday, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte announced that coronavirus restrictions in Manila and nearby provinces would be extended until mid June, in an effort to curb the spread of Covid-19.

As part of these restrictions, restaurants can only operate at 20 per cent capacity and non-essential travel remains prohibited.

In addition to extending the ban on arrivals from the UAE, borders also remain closed to travellers from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Oman until Tuesday, June 15.

Emirates and Etihad will continue to operate scheduled services to the Philippines, but will only carry passengers transiting through the UAE from non-restricted destinations.

"Passengers whose journey originates from the UAE, including Filipino nationals, will not be accepted for travel to all points in the Philippines," Emirates said in a statement when the ban was first announced.

"During this time, flights will continue to operate as scheduled and passengers transiting in Dubai and those returning to the Philippines under the government repatriation programme will be allowed to travel.”

Abu Dhabi's airline said: “Etihad will continue to operate flights to Manila carrying transiting passengers from non-restricted countries and flights from Manila with passengers travelling to Abu Dhabi and across our network. These passengers will be subject to acceptance and quarantine conditions.”