SUBIC BAY FREEPORT – Returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from the Middle East will start arriving in Subic Bay International Airport (SBIA) via rerouted Philippine Airlines (PAL) flights starting on July 5 under a government program to facilitate their trip back home during the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) chairman and administrator Wilma T. Eisma said on Friday that the SBIA is expecting six PAL Airbus A330 flights this month to ferry home an average of 230 passengers each flight, mostly OFWs from Dammam and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia on July 5, 7, 15, 17, 25, and 27.
“The arrival of OFWs via Subic is in line with the policy of the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) to impose a limit for all international airports in the country to accommodate just 1,500 passengers per day,” Eisma said in an interview.
Accordingly, she said that PAL has distributed its flights to various airports to accommodate the market following its recovery plan.
“Subic Bay Freeport Zone is again in a unique position to be of service to the Filipino nation, particularly repatriated workers, who long to be home but were hindered by pandemic restrictions,” Eisma said.
The SBMA chief pointed out that Subic also began serving as a Crew-Change One-Stop-Shop hub since September last year, thereby helping bring home stranded Filipino seafarers or sending them back to work after some vacation.
“Our assistance, we are proud to add, would adequately help flesh out President Duterte’s policy that ‘no one should be left behind’,” Eisma added.
Under the PAL flights setup, arriving passengers would be quarantined for seven to 10 days in Subic Bay Freeport hotels and accommodation facilities accredited by the Department of Tourism (DOT) and certified by the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ).
Eisma said this would create a “positive impact on local tourism that would also redound to the benefit of workers, business establishments, and service operators in our communities.”
Accommodation facilities outside the Freeport may also have the opportunity to take in any overflow that may ensue, she added.
“I really hope this will be the start of something good not only for the Subic airport and the hotels in the Freeport but also for the bigger community that helps keep the Subic economy running,” Eisma added.
The SBMA has also synchronized its efforts with the Bureau of Immigration (BI) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to ensure seamless processing of passengers, as well as with PAL to meet their requirements.
For this year, SBMA is implementing a PHP91.3-million infrastructure package consisting of 12 projects to upgrade equipment and improve facilities in the Subic airport
Source: Philippines News Agency
