Legacy carrier Philippines Airlines flown home 336 Filipino overseas workers who asked to be repatriated from Lebanon following the recent explosion in Beirut last month.
PAL spokesperson Cielo Villaluna said the repatriation Beirut to Manila flight PR8681 touched down the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at 10:39 a.m. Saturday.
Chief of Presidential Protocol and Presidential Assistant on Foreign Affairs Robert Eric A. Borje led the government repatriation team to and from Beirut.
Villaluna said PAL Captain Rommel Quizon and Captain Raymund Expeditus Casambre, assisted by Second Officers Jonard Cerafica and Antonio Sy, flew the Beirut-Manila flight, with purser Jeffrey Briones leading the cabin crew team.
On the other hand, the deck team of Manila-Beirut flight was led by PAL B777 Chief Pilot, Capt. Leo Bernabe, assisted by First Officer Joseph Marvin Jumaquio and Second Officers Jericho Serrano and Manoj Kumar Chandumal with flight purser Levi Villanueva heading the cabin crew roster.
The group of 336 OFWs was the latest batch in the series of ongoing repatriations initiative of the Department Foreign Affairs in close coordination with the PAL management following the explosion at the Beirut port where at least 200 people died.
Upon arrival in Manila, the passengers were briefed by Bureau of Quarantine, Philippine Coast Guard and PAL representatives on the required testing and quarantine protocols.