AirAsia Philippines supports calls to scrap the required negative RT-PCR test for incoming visitors who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19, saying that it further discourages passengers from flying.
Ricky Isla, the airline’s president, said the RT-PCR test disincentives fully vaccinated passengers, as it only adds to the cost of air travel.
Local government units (LGUs) such as those in Palawan, Aklan, and Cebu have asked the national government to scrap the RT-PCR test result before entry for fully vaccinated individuals. “AirAsia is 100 percent behind our LGUs in calling for a more relaxed travel restriction and requirement for fully vaccinated individuals to lessen the cost of air travel. It is also one way to incentivize those who took the shot and encourage more to do the same,” said Isla, who is also the president of Air Carriers Association of the Philippines (ACAP).
He added: “It’s Christmas season in the Philippines, and after almost 2 years of not being able to travel due to the pandemic, Filipinos would surely want to spend time with family in the provinces or just simply enjoy the beach and the sun in the many leisure destinations in the country.”
Isla noted that AirAsia has been implementing measures to strengthen its operations while ensuring that each flight is safe from Covid-19.
It recently added a health travel tile on its app, integrating the Department of Health’s VaxCertPH to quickly verify the legitimacy and certify a passenger’s vaccination status.
“We are in the final stages of integration and once completed we shall roll out the health travel icon on the airasia Super App for easy vaccination verification among LGU’s who would accept fully vaccinated individuals. This definitely will hasten the recovery of not only the airline industry but the tourism sector as a whole,” Isla added. Aside from this, AirAsia is also advocating for the removal of quarantine periods for fully vaccinated international passengers.
Isla said this move “will also entice more travelers from the United States and other European countries to reconsider their plans of visiting the Philippines.”