MANILA, PHILIPPINES — AirAsia supports the initiative of the Health Department in establishing a more stringent procedure in verifying the validity of the vaccine documents presented by fully vaccinated travelers who are doing intrazonal travel for tourism, business, and other purposes.
The Department of Health (DOH) has recently given Local Government Units (LGUs) the authority to determine travel requirements for entry into their jurisdictions.
AirAsia Philippines Spokesperson Steve Dailisan said, “AirAsia believes that the ‘green lane’ for fully vaccinated individuals will encourage more leisure travelers who have previously expressed concerns on varying requirements per destination. This will save them time and money in securing testing requirements.
“The recent pronouncement which allows fully vaccinated individuals to present vaccination cards in lieu of testing requirements positively stirred the booking behavior of the public.
“While we strongly support the easing of restrictions among fully vaccinated individuals as key to rebooting tourism, there must be no room for complacency. Forward looking, there should be a system in place to verify the accuracy of the vaccination cards,”
Of the 11 AirAsia domestic destinations, Cebu Province, Lapu-Lapu City, and Mandaue City no longer require testing for entry via Mactan Airport.
“In view of safety, we also want to make an appeal to all our guests to submit only genuine documents. Industry partners and all stakeholders should also take a proactive role in ensuring that established health and safety protocols are strictly observed,” Dailisan added.
The DOH earlier expressed concerns about the possible proliferation of fake vaccine cards.
Meanwhile, the Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) is now working on measures to validate and authenticate the vaccination cards.
To date, more than 9 million COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the country with over 3 million Filipinos who already received their second dose of the vaccine according to the most recent report from DOH. Inoculation of tourism workers has also started in various island destinations such as Panglao and Boracay.
For destinations still requiring negative test results, AirAsia partner laboratories such as Safeguard DNA Diagnostics and Health Metrics are offering cheaper rates for RT-PCR tests from as low as PhP 2,500 with results yielding from 24 to 48 hours.
Philippine Airport Diagnostic Laboratory (PADLAB) meanwhile offers PhP 2,799 for RT-PCR test with 48-hour result, PhP 2,999 if within 24 hours, PhP 3,299 if within 12 hours and Antigen test for only PhP 775.
Guests may present their AirAsia booking itinerary with our partner laboratories to avail of the discounted price.
