PH Embassy in Qatar Mounts Sixth DFA-Funded Chartered Flight to Send Home Overseas Filipinos
Overseas Filipino passengers queue to check-in at the counters of the Philippine Airlines. (Doha PE photo)
DOHA 17 August 2020 — The Philippine Embassy in Doha, Qatar mounted another chartered flight on 14 August 2020 via Philippine Airlines (PAL), repatriating 323 overseas Filipino passengers and two infants. The chartered flight included three pregnant women and eight families.
The chartered flight is the sixth chartered flight from Doha funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
Thus far, the Philippine Embassy in Doha and the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Qatar have already mounted seven chartered flights. Moreover, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) also mounted a separate chartered flight on 12 August 2020 for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who are members of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).
Since the start of the repatriation program in May 2020, close to 3,000 overseas Filipinos (2,907 adults plus 25 infants) have already been sent home through seven chartered and two special commercial repatriation PAL flights.
The Embassy and POLO jointly worked on these repatriations, pursuant to the One Country Team Approach of the Philippine government.
These flights from Doha were a result of close coordination between the Embassy, POLO, and relevant authorities in Qatar, such as the Supreme Committee for Crisis Management, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs, the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority, the Hamad International Airport, and Qatar Airways.
These flights were made possible through funding from the DFA and the invaluable support from the DFA, DOLE, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, and other entities, including PAL.
The Embassy and POLO stand ready to provide appropriate assistance to those who wish to be repatriated. END
Some of the families at the airport who were included in the Embassy’s repatriation flight. (Doha PE photo)
Overseas Filipino passengers with PAL cabin and ground crew from inside the aircraft of the Philippine Airlines (Photo courtesy of Philippine Airlines-Qatar Office)
For more information, visit https://www.dohape.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/PHinQatar/.