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MANILA, Philippines -- Following the downgrading of the Philippines? aviation safety ratings by the United States, a group of labor recruiters on Wednesday asked Philippine Airlines (PAL) to return to the Middle East and fly overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) going in and out of the region.
Jackson Gan, vice president of the Federated Association of Manpower Exporters, urged the country?s flag carrier to return to Middle East routes that suffer from a shortage of flights.
During the Christmas holidays, more than 20,000 OFWs were reportedly unable to return to their jobsites in the Middle East immediately due to the shortage of flights. It is estimated that over 60,000 OFWs came home for Christmas.
Gan said PAL used to fly the Manila-Dubai-Europe route several years ago but abandoned this when flights to Europe became unprofitable. PAL also used to have direct flights to Saudi Arabia.
?But the situation in the Middle East now is totally different,? he said.
Gan said the deployment of OFWs to Dubai, Qatar, and Bahrain has increased by 200 percent over the past four years.
With the construction boom in Dubai and Qatar projected to continue for the next five years, and the plan of Saudi Arabia to build four super cities within a decade, he said more Filipinos will surely fly to the region.
In fact, he said, the demand for professionals and skilled workers in the Middle East brought about by the construction of hundreds of hotels and office buildings have put a strain on Philippine recruitment agencies.
Earlier, the United States government advised its citizens to avoid using carriers from countries it has rated Category 2, into which its Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) downgraded the Philippines.
The FAA prohibits carriers from Category 2 countries from expanding operations in the US.
