ME airfare costs more for OFWs than US flights
MANILA, Philippines - The shortage of airline seats in flights going to the Middle East makes the cost of booking in the oil-rich region more expensive for Filipino workers than going to the United States, a recruitment group said Wednesday.
Recruitment agencies explained that overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) bound to Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Qatar are paying as much as $650 for a direct flight ticket while booking of seats take from one to three months.
Aminah F Jadid, president of Saveway International Manpower Services, a recruitment agency that deploys most of its workers to Saudi, said the shortage of airline seats have been occurring for years.
Aside from shortages in airline seats, the sky-rocketing airline tickets and lack of direct flights have contributed to the deployment slowdown to the Middle East, said Jadid.
Jackson Gan, spokesperson of the Federated Association of Manpower Exporters (FAME), said some of his colleagues have resorted to “black market" in getting slots for their Middle East-bound Filipino workers.
Gan said the current cost of an airline ticket to the oil-rich region rose by $250.
While the number of OFWs going to the ME is increasing everyday, Gan said there are only six airlines with a total of 50 flights a week are made.
"Agencies have resorted to buying for a select number of OFWs who are highly paid professionals like engineers business class amenities. These upgrading to full economy or business class seats are costing the recruitment industry huge financial losses," Gan said.
During a recent hearing at the House of Representatives, lawyer Carmelo Arcilla, Civil Aeronautics Board executive director, said two Middle East air carriers would provide two additional flights within the coming weeks.
Arcilla said Emirates Air would add one flight to the Manila-Dubai route this month, while Qatar Airways would add another to the Manila-Doha flight by June.
He confirmed reports that the Philippine Airlines (PAL) could fly to the Middle East. However, he said the flag carrier had closed down its Middle East market since 1998.
Some recruiters meanwhile opted to book their OFWs on connecting flights from three to four different countries before finally ending up in their Middle East job site.
Elizabeth Nieva of Empire International, said a worker on an Egypt Airline will have to stop over at Bangkok, Mumbai, and Cairo before finally reaching Bahrain.
Due to the stop-overs, the trip would take more than 20 hours instead of a normal seven hour direct flight.
Nieva said frequent stop-overs increases the possibility of Filipino workers getting lost or stranded specially since most of them are first-timers.
FAME is appealing to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to help the recruitment agencies and OFWs by ordering the CAB to approve new applicants for the Middle East routes immediately and open up more flights to the Clark or Subic airports to ASEAN countries connecting to the Middle East.
"This is now a full-blown crisis for the airline and recruitment industries which needs a Presidential intervention," said Gan.
- Fidel Jimenez, GMANews.TV
Recruitment agencies explained that overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) bound to Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Qatar are paying as much as $650 for a direct flight ticket while booking of seats take from one to three months.
Aminah F Jadid, president of Saveway International Manpower Services, a recruitment agency that deploys most of its workers to Saudi, said the shortage of airline seats have been occurring for years.
Aside from shortages in airline seats, the sky-rocketing airline tickets and lack of direct flights have contributed to the deployment slowdown to the Middle East, said Jadid.
Jackson Gan, spokesperson of the Federated Association of Manpower Exporters (FAME), said some of his colleagues have resorted to “black market" in getting slots for their Middle East-bound Filipino workers.
Gan said the current cost of an airline ticket to the oil-rich region rose by $250.
While the number of OFWs going to the ME is increasing everyday, Gan said there are only six airlines with a total of 50 flights a week are made.
"Agencies have resorted to buying for a select number of OFWs who are highly paid professionals like engineers business class amenities. These upgrading to full economy or business class seats are costing the recruitment industry huge financial losses," Gan said.
During a recent hearing at the House of Representatives, lawyer Carmelo Arcilla, Civil Aeronautics Board executive director, said two Middle East air carriers would provide two additional flights within the coming weeks.
Arcilla said Emirates Air would add one flight to the Manila-Dubai route this month, while Qatar Airways would add another to the Manila-Doha flight by June.
He confirmed reports that the Philippine Airlines (PAL) could fly to the Middle East. However, he said the flag carrier had closed down its Middle East market since 1998.
Some recruiters meanwhile opted to book their OFWs on connecting flights from three to four different countries before finally ending up in their Middle East job site.
Elizabeth Nieva of Empire International, said a worker on an Egypt Airline will have to stop over at Bangkok, Mumbai, and Cairo before finally reaching Bahrain.
Due to the stop-overs, the trip would take more than 20 hours instead of a normal seven hour direct flight.
Nieva said frequent stop-overs increases the possibility of Filipino workers getting lost or stranded specially since most of them are first-timers.
FAME is appealing to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to help the recruitment agencies and OFWs by ordering the CAB to approve new applicants for the Middle East routes immediately and open up more flights to the Clark or Subic airports to ASEAN countries connecting to the Middle East.
"This is now a full-blown crisis for the airline and recruitment industries which needs a Presidential intervention," said Gan.
- Fidel Jimenez, GMANews.TV
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