The sailors are expected to arrive on Sunday evening at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay City, Metro Manila.

Mariecar Jara-Puyod, Senior Reporter

Two hundred and eight Filipino male and female sailors are expected to arrive on Sunday evening at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay City, Metro Manila.

All are “still employed” by the Norwegian Cruise Lines Holding, Ltd, manned the MV Norwegian Jade, SS Nautica and SS Voyager and whose repatriation from the UAE was coordinated with the Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the Philippine Consulate General in Dubai.

The cruise vessels had been docked for weeks at the Port Zayed in Abu Dhabi and the Port Rashid in Dubai since the global pandemic struck resulting in lockdowns.

Consul General in Dubai and the Northern Emirates Paul Raymund Cortes and Deputy Consul General Renato Duenas Jr. saw them off at the Dubai International Airport Terminal 3 for their Saturday 9:25 p.m. eight-hour Emirates Airlines 334 flight.

“They are expected to arrive home at 9:05 p.m. on Sunday. It is their employer who shouldered their travel expenses and repatriation fees. They are still employed,” WhatsApped Cortes to the Philippine Press on Sunday morning.

“They are also part of the Philippines’s Department of Labor and Employment AKAP (Within Hands Reach Program),” he added.

On 5th April, through coordination between the UAE and UK governments, a chartered Emirates Airline plane flew out 345 British citizens who were unable to return home after the closure of UAE airports to international traffic on 24th March.

Ambassador Patrick Moody, British Ambassador to the UAE, said: “I am delighted that 345 British visitors to the UAE have now arrived home in the U.K. I am equally delighted that Emiratis have returned to the UAE from the UK this week as well. This has happened because of the hard work of my team and the team at the UAE Embassy in London, and the fantastic cooperation of the UAE government.”

Mansoor Abulhoul, the UAE Ambassador to the United Kingdom, said: “I am delighted that we have been able to help Brits who were unable to return home after the closure of our airports. We have been working on this closely with the British government for the past week. I would like to thank all the travellers involved for their patience in these extraordinary circumstances.”