The government is temporarily waiving the collection of P6 billion in landing, takeoff and parking charges from airlines for 2020 to help mitigate the impact of the corona virus disease (COVID 2019) outbreak on the airline industry.
These charges will be payable within a period of one year without penalty but no specific date was given.
The airlines had earlier asked for an outright waiver of these charges.
Carmelo Arcilla, executive director of the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), said the impact of COVID-19 on the industry and to the overall economy is becoming more intense.
Arcilla said airlines are hit heavily in terms of low traffic.
Roberto Lim, Air Carriers Association of the Philippines Inc. (ACAP) vice chair, told a Senate hearing prior to the government’s announcement the group is asking for the waiver of navigation and landing charges charged on airlines.
These charges amount to P500 million per month or P6 billion a year.
Lim said ACAP has also sought for the suspension of the collection of travel tax to encourage more passengers to travel.
In 2018, Lim said the local airlines paid a total of P6.4 billion to the government.
In other Asian countries, Lim said, Thailand has suspended the excise tax in landing and navigation charges, Indonesia reduced the landing charges and Singapore is allocating funds for the aviation sector.
Local airlines have suspended a total of 32 routes, both local and international, equivalent to over 8,000 flights.
Lim said the airlines have refunded passengers a total of P3 billion for February and March alone.
“The losses keep on mounting… we estimate 1.4 million passengers are affected,” Lim added.
Philippine Airlines said the deferment of payment of airline chargers is a welcome development as it provides a temporary financial reprieve for the company.
ACAP represents local airlines includes PAL, Cebu Pacific and AirAsia Philippines.
Starting last month, local airlines have suspended flights to and from China and its special administrative regions Hong Kong and Macau as well as South Korea in compliance with the government-imposed travel ban to control the spread of the virus in the country.
