Philippine Airlines pays 80% of 15.9b pesos in refund requests

[MANILA] Philippine Airline (PAL) said it has already paid back 80 per cent of the 15.9 billion pesos (S$445.2 million) in refund requests it received amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The carrier owned by billionaire Lucio Tan has cancelled more than 60,000 flights since March, affecting over 1.3 million passengers, PAL said in a statement.

"The loss of revenues deprived us of liquidity to make prompt refund payments, even as lockdown restrictions posed serious staffing and logistical limitations," it said.

Philippine Air said it has restored nearly 15 per cent of its regular local and international network and plans to ramp up flights as travel and quarantine restrictions ease. Cebu Air, the nation's largest budget carrier, said last week it has refunded 2.4 billion pesos or half of total refund requests since April.

BLOOMBERG