35 Filipinos Join Special Relief Flight from Myanmar

Philippine Embassy in Yangon personnel check tickets and assist passengers joining the repatriation flight for Manila, Philippines. (Yangon PE photo)

YANGON 26 June 2020 – A total of 35 stranded Filipinos in Myanmar joined the special repatriation flight from Yangon to Manila organized by the Philippine Embassy in Yangon and the Myanmar Embassy in Manila in coordination with Myanmar Airways International (MAI). The relief flight departed Yangon International Airport for Manila at 8:00 A.M. on 25 June 2020.

Most of the passengers were adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and could no longer afford to continue staying in Myanmar. One of the passengers who joined the flight was stranded on board M/V Serene Theodora since 09 May 2020. The Embassy requested approval of the Myanmar government to allow the stranded Filipino to join the flight as soon as the ship docked in Yangon. Coordination by the Embassy with the ship’s crew ensured that its arrival in Yangon would be just in time for the repatriation flight.

The Embassy advised and provided the repatriates with the latest guidelines regarding arrival procedures at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

An estimated 140 Myanmar nationals stranded in the Philippines joined the return flight to Yangon which departed from NAIA at 2:30 P.M. on the same day. END

Third Secretary and Vice Consul Jan Michael Gomez (leftmost) sends off the second batch of Filipinos being repatriated to the Philippines from Myanmar. (Yangon PE photo)

Passengers of the Myanmar Airways International repatriation flight practice physical distancing as they wait to board the flight at Yangon International Airport. (Yangon PE photo)

For more information, visit https://www.yangonpe.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/PHinMyanmar.