COVID-19 testing policy of domestic airlines confusing – passengers

Some domestic airlines’ policies on COVID-19 testing are confusing some passengers due to the various requirements required to enter the cities.

Passenger Danny Dodin, three times rebooked the flight with his nephews due to confusion over various requirements.

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He said he spent P2,000 for an antigen test, which was repeated upon his arrival at his destination.

“Pabalik-balik po kami, bale po noong 26 pa po na-cancel nila flight namin tapos noong 30 po hinanapan kami ng swab test kaya nag-rebooking na naman kami tapos ngayon nag-swab test kami sa labas, magche-check in na sana kami, tapos magsa-swab test na naman kami, so sobrang hirap na talaga,” said Dodin.

The stranded passenger, Mikee Tan, slept alone for a week at the airport.

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He was confused because of the type of the required COVID-19 test. He was not able to attend his father’s funeral in Zamboanga City.

“Dapat noong 28 alis ko talaga. Di sila pumayag kasi rapid test, dapat swab test talaga siya kaya hindi na ako nakahabol,” Tan.

The negative COVID-19 test result is one of the requirements to travel to local airlines under the country’s pandemic task force rules. The type of COVID-19 test result varies in some cities.

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Domestic airlines COVID-testing policy

Meanwhile, some domestic airlines have taken various steps to facilitate obtaining the swab test result. AirAsia has partnered with a medical laboratory for a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test.

The price of a swab test is P4,000 instead of P5,500 if you can book using the airline’s website.

Philippine Airlines has its own RT-PCR test at the PAL Learning Center in Adriatico in Manila. It costs P4,000, and the result will be available in 1 day.

Cebu Pacific has a free antigen test for 2 weeks for travelers to General Santos City. After that, the antigen test will cost P700.

It takes five minutes to get the swab, and in less than an hour, the result will be available.

According to the airlines, LGUs should have the same requirement so that passengers are no longer confused.

Domestic airlines reminded passengers to complete the destination’s requirements as travel documents are not consistent for each LGU.