LEGACY carrier Philippine Airlines said it is suspending its flights to and from Kuwait, saying the ongoing slowdown in overseas Filipino worker travel to the Gulf state has made regular operations economically unsustainable.
“Philippine Airlines will temporarily suspend its PR-668 Manila to Kuwait and PR-669 Kuwait to Manila flights effective May 16, 2018,” the airline management said in a statement.
PAL had maintained flights to Kuwait despite difficult market conditions.
President Rodrigo Duterte, however, earlier decided to suspend the deployment of OFWs to Kuwait following the gruesome murder of domestic helper Joanna Demafelis.
Ninoy Aquino International Airport officials are now preventing the departure of OFWs bound for Kuwait following the ban.
In 2016 around 105,000 OFWs were deployed to the Gulf state.
“Since earlier this year, the flag carrier has repatriated free of charge nearly 900 distressed Filipino workers from Kuwait to Manila, in response to the call of President Duterte and the Philippine government to assist our OFWs in Kuwait,” PAL said.
“With the repatriation effort now complete, the ongoing slowdown in OFW travel to Kuwait has made regular operations economically unsustainable, hence the need to suspend these flights to Kuwait until such time that market conditions on the route improve.”
PAL, instead, will continue to serve Kuwait through its flight operations to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam.
Passengers with flights beginning May 16 may refund their tickets or rebook their flights to travel on or before 16 May, or reroute their PAL Manila—Kuwait journey to fly on PAL to Abu Dhabi or Dubai or Doha, and then on Other Airlines for the connecting flight to Kuwait.
Affected air travelers may also avail reroute their PAL Kuwait—Manila journey to fly on Other Airlines to Abu Dhabi or Dubai or Doha, and then take the PAL flight home to Manila.