UAE flights: Filipino expats’ Christmas travel plans unaffected by typhoon, new Covid curbs

A majority of the Filipino expatriates in the UAE are headed home for the festive season, despite the introduction of new restrictive travel measures and the devastation caused by Typhoon Rai.

Airline representatives and travel agents have said December is a peak season for expatriates to travel to the Philippines. A majority of the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) travel home to celebrate Christmas and New Year with their loved ones.

While it was expected there would be a dip in demand for travel to the island country, due to the aftermath of Typhoon Rai and new restrictive travel measures introduced by the local government, scores of Filipino expatriates are headed home for the holidays.

New travel updates

Effective December 23, up to and including January 3, 2022, only Cebuano OFWs and returning Filipinos will be allowed to enter Cebu as per a directive from local authorities in the Philippines. Emirates shared the updated directions on its website. No other nationality is permitted to travel on these flights.

The decision by the Cebu provincial government was in response to brimming hotel occupancy rates from local bookings by residents who still do not have access to electricity and water after the onslaught of Typhoon Rai.

According to the most recent travel updates from Inter-Agency Task Force – Philippines (IATF), all fully vaccinated OFW arrivals into the Philippines must undergo mandatory hotel quarantine for three days until their RT-PCR results arrive.

“They will have to undergo home quarantine until their 10th day, with the date of arrival being the first day,” said the IATF.

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Disruptions caused cancellations, stranded passengers

The recent disruptions caused several Dubai-Manila flight cancellations, a representative of Philippine Airlines (PAL) told Khaleej Times. The airline spokesperson said, “There were two PAL flight cancellations on December 17 and 19, respectively. It could’ve been due to the Typhon, and there is also a shortage of quarantine hotels in Manila, for example. There is a huge demand for hotel rooms from domestic tourists, leading to shortage.”

Commenting on the updates for Cebuano OFWs, the PIA official said, “Due to the current situation in Cebu, the local government issued a memorandum stating only local residents are allowed to enter Cebu. We have a scheduled flight on Sunday. However, we are awaiting a final decision from the management of PAL and local government on the status of the flight.” No updates regarding the PAL flight status were made available to Khaleej Times at the time of print.