Xiamen Airlines announced it was re-opening flights from Quanzhou city in East China’s Fujian province to the Philippines capital of Manila, starting Feb 14 and continuing until Feb 28, company officials said.

They said that there would be two flights every week after six consecutive days of temporary flights to Manila to pick up stranded passengers.

The Philippine government previously announced that from Feb 2, all visitors who have been to China were barred from entering the Philippines. As a result, all Chinese flights to the Philippines were cancelled, leaving a large number of Chinese citizens stranded.

According to the Xiamen Airlines, in order to receive the delayed passengers as soon as possible, it applied to the Philippine authorities for 10 special flights.

According to official statistics, the newly added flights transported a total of 2,099 passengers, most of whom were Chinese tourists stranded in the Philippines in the wake of the novel coronavirus epidemic.

Airline officials said the re-instated Quanzhou-Manila flight number is MF817/8, which will operate every Tuesday and Friday. It departs from Quanzhou Jinjiang International Airport at 14:20 and arrives in Manila at 16:55, they said.

Xiamen Airlines said in a statement that it was reminding passengers who intend to fly on this flight to pay attention to the relevant regulations on entry and exit restrictions in the Philippines.

It is also recommended that passengers on the flight wear masks throughout the flight.