As many as 200 Saudi overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) flew back to Saudi Arabia aboard a Philippine Airlines flight on Tuesday, after lifting a temporary suspension of deployment order issued on May 30 by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
However, the OFWs returning to Saudi Arabia had to comply with strict protocols related to COVID-19 test, including possession of Overseas Employment Certification (OEC), visas, and RT-PCR negative test results issued within the last 72 hours.
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The boarding passes were issued to the OFWs on seat availability basis with priority given to those having confirmed booking for the same day, according to airline sources, who highlighted that the 450-passenger, A330-300 Philippines Airlines aircraft did not fly full capacity as social distancing had to be maintained among the OFW passengers.
However, most of the estimated 500 Saudi Arabia-bound OFWs — that were offloaded by the DOLE order – are still in Manila, where they were quarantined in government-approved hotels. OFWs expressed dismay as they were unable to fly back to Saudi Arabia because of the flights being fully booked for the next few weeks.
Philippines has limited flights to and from Saudi Arabia due to the daily 2,000-passenger cap on arrivals at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Of this number, a total of 640 passengers is the daily cap from the US and the Middle East.
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The airline operates five flights to Dammam and six flights to Riyadh every week, besides one flight to Doha and Dubai once a week, PAL spokesman Cielo Villaluna said while highlighting the need for the government’s increasing the number of allowable arrivals due to the great inconvenience to returning Filipinos and OFWs caused by flight cancellations.
However, PAL stated that OFWs, who were unable to board their flights to Saudi Arabia due to the temporary DOLE travel ban last week, could rebook the next available flights with the rebooking service fees being waived. (AW)
