CLARK FREE PORT, Pampanga—Two airliners based at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) are expected to provide the much-needed service to ferry overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to the Middle East amid the reported high cost of booking and the shortage of flights.

TransGlobal Airways and The Spirit of Manila will provide the service to the Emirate of Fujairah and Bahrain, respectively, in the Middle East.

On Friday morning, a 160-seater MD-83 TransGlobal flight took off for its maiden flight to Emirate of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) president and chief executive officer Victor Jose I. Luciano said.

Transglobal is reportedly in the process of acquiring a Boeing 737 that will fly the Clark-Fujairah route every Mondays and Wednesdays.

Luciano said The Spirit of Manila had been allowed to launch flights between the DMIA and Bahrain, also in the Middle East, that would enhance service to thousands of OFWs who have always bore the brunt of the high cost of booking and shortage of flights to the Middle East.

The CIAC official said local carrier Spirit of Manila was given the go-signal by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) to ply the Clark-Bahrain route.

Spirit of Manila plans to fly the Clark-Bahrain route three times a week using the 250-seater Boeing 767 starting August this year.

“It [Spirit of Manila] will start training of its crews and will also hire pilots,” said Luciano.

There are an estimated 40,000 OFWs in Bahrain, 35,000 of which are workers and the rest dependents. Bahrain is connected to the desert Kingdom of Saudi Arabia via the King Fahd Causeway and is near Qatar where most of the OFWs are also concentrated.

At least 1.8 million OFWs, mostly from Northern and Central Luzon, are expected to benefit from Middle East flights at the DMIA.

Luciano said with more airliners flying to several destinations in the Middle East, the cost of tickets will be much cheaper compared with the current price.

Another air carrier, South East Asian Airlines (Seair), also plans to ply the Clark-Brunei route in the coming months.

Seair serves domestic flights at the DMIA, such as the Clark-Caticlan route that attracts thousands of foreign and local tourists going to Boracay resort.

“This is a new beginning to our OFWs in the Middle East. It is the link that will bring them closer to their loved ones in the Philippines,” Luciano said, adding that overseas workers no longer need to go to Metro Manila but take their flights at DMIA, which is closer for those living in the Northern and Central Luzon area.

Luciano expressed gratitude to CAB for allowing air carriers to operate at the DMIA following OFWs’ clamor for more flights, especially to the Middle East.“This manifests that DMIA will be the premier international gateway of the country and with the increasing number of flights in the area, we expect more air carriers to come,” he added.

Luciano said DMIA is ready to accommodate passengers and cargo carriers after the development of infrastructure at the 2,500-hectare civil-aviation complex, one of which is the $1.3-million in-flight catering facility that would serve air carriers operating at the airport. 

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CLARK FREE PORT, Pampanga—Two airliners based at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) are expected to provide the much-needed service to ferry overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to the Middle East amid the reported high cost of booking and the shortage of flights.

THE House Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs has scheduled a bill extending credit assistance to Filipinos who want to work abroad but don’t have enough means to process their work papers for plenary deliberation.