SINGAPORE, 23 December 2020: Cebu Pacific commercially launched its Test Before Boarding (TBB) process last week for passengers flying from Manila, after its successful pilot run with the local government of General Santos.
The process makes use of an antigen test taken just hours before the scheduled time of departure, with results released within 30 minutes.
The airline offers this antigen test for only PHP700 ( USD14), the lowest rate in the industry. The TBB testing facility at the NAIA Terminal 3 is now open for walk-ins from 0200 to 1400 daily. Passengers will only have to register onsite and pay the fee directly to the airline’s diagnostic partner, Philippine Airport Diagnostic Laboratory (PADL).
Throughout the pilot run from 3 to 14 December, CEB tested 1,143 passengers, three of whom tested positive and were not allowed to proceed with their flight. Only those who tested negative were allowed to board the aircraft.
Subsequently, based on the data provided by the local government of General Santos, passengers were retested after their 7-day quarantine and results were still negative, showing consistency with the earlier results of the TBB process.
“Following the successful TBB pilot, Cebu Pacific is ready to offer this option to all their passengers. We are urging everyone to take advantage of this convenient alternative, especially since the testing site is strategically located at the airport, making the whole process easy and hassle-free for our residents,” said General Santos City Mayor Ronnel Rivera.
Apart from General Santos, the local governments of Butuan, Dipolog, and Pagadian also accept negative antigen test results as a pre-travel requirement.
Affordable RT-PCR tests
As a number of local and international destinations require negative RT-PCR test results prior to entry, CEB is offering RT-PCR tests for only PHP 3,300 (approx. USD68) via its three partner laboratories, namely PADL, Health Metrics, Inc. (HMI), and Safeguard DNA Diagnostics Inc. (SDDI).
Testing is just one out of the three key steps CEB strictly implements to regain passenger confidence. Other approaches include safety and sanitation, as well as track and trace. CEB continues to implement a multi-layered approach to safety and has been rated 7/7 stars by airlineratings.com for its Covid-19 compliance. Passengers are also constantly reminded to register in the Philippines Department of Transportation’s Traze App for a more efficient contact tracing process.
