Bacolod City – Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said yesterday the province is not interested in allowing more flights at the Bacolod-Silay Airport amid the threat of the coronavirus disease 2019 Delta variant.
“The airlines are requesting, but I think right now, we should even be more careful because of the Delta variant,” Lacson said.
The Delta variant, considered as more transmissible and more infectious, has been detected in Western Visayas, particularly in Antique.
“We really don’t know how widespread that variant is now in the country. Most likely, we are not going to rush into allowing more flights,” Lacson added.
For July, the Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific Air, and Philippines Air Asia alternately landed at the Bacolod-Silay Airport two to three times a week from Manila.
Inbound flights usually carry just cargoes while outbound trips are a combination of cargo and commercial flights.
PAL has flights on Sundays, Mondays, and Fridays, Cebu Pacific – Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, and Air Asia – Sundays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays.
All three airlines also have flights from Mactan-Cebu and vice versa once a week, either on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Friday.
The request of PAL to be allowed to have more Manila-Bacolod-Manila flights every Sunday remains hanging, as far as Lacson is concerned.
“We’re not gonna rush into allowing them more flights,” Lacson said.
PAL flights are allowed on Sundays, but only to bring in cargoes.
(Adrian Nemes III via The Visayan Daily Star (TVDS) with additional report from Philippine News Agency, photo courtesy of TVDS)
