Cebu Pacific made improvements in its policies, aiming to give passengers more flexible booking options and peace of mind amid travel concerns due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The budget carrier's travel fund service will be valid for two years. This can be used to book flights up to 12 months ahead, for as long as the transaction is made before expiration. Potentially, this means that customers can use their Travel Funds and fly in 2023. The Travel Fund, or a virtual wallet with equivalent to the full cost of the ticket, is an option that passengers can take if the flight was cancelled or if they wish to forego travel plans. Customers can now avail of unlimited rebooking of their flights, without paying any rebooking or change fees. Those who wish to forego travel plans or book new flights can rebook their flights as many times as possible. This will allow customers to better manage their plans, depending on changes in travel restrictions or frequency of flights. Available for travel...

Qatar Airways will seek compensation from four Arab neighbors who have refused to allow it to use their airspace under the terms of a boycott now in place for more than three years. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) was competent to hear the dispute, after the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Egypt argued that the body’s aviation-only remit left it ineligible to decide on “security” matters. “In line with the ruling of the ICJ and the legal precedent allowing the State of Qatar to continue its case at ICAO against the blockading States, Qatar Airways will pursue its case for appropriate compensation of the financial injuries inflicte as a result of the illegal airspace blockade,” in a statement released by the airline. “The arbitrary and abusive measures that these four States have taken against us have devastated our carefully planned decades-long program for investment and growth in those countries; they have arbit...

British Airways have finally retired the entire fleet of its Boeing 747 planes after plummeting passenger numbers forces the decision to bring forward plan to retire them in 2024. This finally brings to the end the era of the iconic plane nicknamed the "the Queen of the skies". The airline is the world’s last major operator of the iconic Boeing 747 aircraft which has been in service with the airline since 1971. It had 31 jumbo jets in use before the coronavirus pandemic forced the decision to ground the entire fleet at airports across the country. British Airways had originally planned to retire them by 2024 and gradually replace them with newer, more fuel-efficient jets such as the 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A350.But plummeting passenger numbers have forced the airline to bring forward its plans.  The colossal, four-engine jets will be broken up and scrapped for parts over the next few months in what will be an ignominious end for the commercial jetliner, which once helped ea...

Kenya Airways is laying off over 180 pilots with more than 400 cabin crew facing job losses raising questions over the future of the carrier. An extract of the copy of the letter given to the Pilots reads in part “I regret to advise you of management's decision to terminate your appointment by giving you one month notice with effect from June 24, 2020". According to the letter issued to affected Staff, the exit package includes salary and all applicable allowances up to and including June 24, 2020, a one month's salary in lieu of notice and accrued leave days as at June 24, a move that will see the loss-making company spend millions in the layoff. This latest move by the east African flag carrier has created so much anxiety and uncertainty among the Staff consequentially drawing the irke of Labour and Pilot unions in the country. In a response, the CEO in a statement disclosed that “In view of the unprecedented impact of Covid-19 to the airline, it has become difficult to ...

The Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 will be open for international flights starting July 8. Manila International Airport Authority in a statement released on Saturday. “After temporarily closing its doors on March 28 this year, NAIA Terminal 3 will finally open its gates to resume international flight operations beginning 12:01 a.m. of July 8, 2020”. NAIA Terminal 3 will accept flights from Nippon Airways, Air Asia, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Royal Dutch Airlines, Qatar Airways,  Singapore Airlines, and Turkish Airlines. However, international operations of airline carriers Cebu Pacific, Delta Air, Qantas Airways, and United Airlines at Terminal 3 will still be suspended. MIAA also noted NAIA Terminal 2 continues to service international arrival flights from Philippine Airlines (PAL). NAIA Terminal 1, meanwhile, operates international departure flights from PAL.NAIA Terminal 4 remains temporarily closed for operations until further notice. It is pleasing to see ...