The International Air Transport Association (IATA) welcomed the reopening of the Philippines to foreign travel today, Feb. 10, 2022, but said more needs to be done.

"IATA welcomes the border opening by the Philippines to fully vaccinated travellers," Philip Goh, IATA's Regional Vice President for Asia Pacific, declared in his statement.

"It is good for the aviation community, and will facilitate the recovery of the aviation industry and the tourism sector," he underscored.

"We urge other Asia Pacific governments to look at similarly easing their travel restrictions and join this growing momentum we are seeing in the region during the past several weeks," the IATA executive advocated.

But while"easing travel restrictions is a positive step forward, more needs to be done in order to build greater confidence in air travel", he noted

IATA urged the Philippine government to make the standardization of measures and quarantine exemption permanent.

The umbrella organization of the global airline sector also urged the Philippine government to accept antigen tests for pre-departure testing and recognize digital vaccination certificates and testing certificates that are presented in digital platforms, such as the IATA Travel Pass.

"It is through greater liberalization from air travel restrictions that aviation and travel businesses, and indeed economies, can advance to full recovery from two years of extreme hardship," Goh maintained.

Starting today, Feb. 10, the Philippines reopens its borders to fully-vaccinated foreigners traveling to the country for leisure or business from visa-free countries.

The new guidelines (IATF Reso.160-B) cover fully-vaccinated former Filipino citizens with Balikbayan privilege, including their foreign spouses and children traveling with them to the Philippines; provided that they are not restricted nationals; and fully vaccinated citizens of countries entitled to stay visa-free for not more than 30 days under Executive Order 408, S. 1960.

Unvaccinated foreign nationals will be denied admission into the country.

Foreign nationals are considered fully vaccinated if they have received the second dose in a two-dose series, or a single dose of a recognized vaccine more than 14 days prior to the date and time of departure.

Before flying in, they also need to present documents, such as proof of vaccination, Negative RT-PCR test taken within 48hrs. prior to departure; valid return-tickets not later than 30 days after arrival in the Philippines; passport valid for at least six months; and travel insurance for COVID-19 treatment costs from reputable insurers, with a minimum coverage of USD35,000.00 for the duration of their stay.

Valid proof of vaccination includes the WHO International Certificate of Vaccination and Prophylaxis; VaxCertPH; the national/state digital certificate of the country/foreign government which has accepted VaxCertPH under a reciprocal agreement; vaccination certificate issued by a foreign state whether digital or physical; or vaccination certificate issued by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, whether digital or physical.

Unvaccinated foreign children below 12 years of age traveling with their Filipino parent, shall follow the entry, testing, and quarantine protocols of their Filipino parent traveling with them;

Foreign children from ages 12 to 17 years of age traveling with their Filipino parent, shall follow the protocols based on their vaccination status (i.e., vaccinated or unvaccinated). If the child is unvaccinated, either parent should accompany the child during their facility-based quarantine.

Fully-vaccinated foreign nationals will no longer be required to undergo facility-based quarantine.

Instead, they shall self-monitor for any sign or symptom for seven days with the first day being the date of arrival, and shall be required to report to their local government unit upon the manifestation of symptoms, if any.