Consult airlines for rebookings, Filipinos told
- 23 May 2020
Mariecar Jara-Puyod, Senior Reporter
Filipinos who have booked for flights to their home country on their own need not seek assistance from the Philippine missions in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, should they re-book.
The re-bookings are due to flight cancellations resulting from a Manila directive that inbound commercial operations to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport must have a cap of 400 passengers a day.
The Philippine Embassy-Abu Dhabi (AUHPE) and the Philippine Consulate General-Dubai (PCGDXB) had posted a joint advisory regarding this over their respective websites and Facebook pages on Thursday afternoon.
Meanwhile, on Friday, Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Sarah Lou Arriola, updated the House of Representatives-Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs, on the continuing repatriation of Filipinos from across the globe because of the Coronavirus 2019 pandemic.
According to Arriola, 28,589 Filipinos had returned to the country as of May 21 (Thursday). Of these, 19,200 are seafarers and 9,389 are land-based.
The report was in the Metro Manila-headquartered Philippine Daily Inquirer, which also quoted Arriola as saying that of the over 12 million overseas Filipinos, 2,461 had been stricken with the infectious disease, 861 had recovered, 1,315 remain active cases and 285 had passed away.
From the Middle East and Africa are 713 cases, 752 in Europe, 544 in the Americas, and 452 in the Asia-Pacific region.
On the new advisory of the Philippine missions in the UAE, Consul General in Dubai and the Northern Emirates Paul Raymund Cortes on Friday afternoon said: “Some people have been told that for them to be considered in the next available flight, they must (consult first with the embassy or the consulate general).”
“This advisory is for those who already had tickets but their flights were cancelled due to the new regulation of the (Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines) on the 400 passengers a day (for each inbound flight),” Cortes also said.
He stressed that neither the AUHPE nor the PCGDXB manage the passenger listings.
The advisory reads: “The Embassy of the Philippines and the Philippine Consulate General do not interfere with the commercial bookings of any airlines. They also do not give passenger lists to airlines. There is also no group booking reserved by the Embassy or the Consulate.
“If you are trying to re-book on flights that have been re-opened, please do so directly with the airlines. Should airlines ask you to enlist or inquire with the Embassy for re-booking of air tickets, you may tell them it is not needed and show them this advisory.