Around 200 OFWs stranded at NAIA after flight cancellation

Around 200 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) going to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia were stranded at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) after their flight was canceled on Saturday.

According to a report of Mai Bermudez on 24 Oras Weekend, the OFWs were worried that their negative swab test results for COVID-19 will be invalid when they arrive in Riyadh.

The departure time of Philippine Airlines Flight PR654 was initially scheduled at 11:40 a.m. then it was moved to 2 p.m. The new schedule however was also canceled.

OFW Ricardo Gamarcho said he already spent P12,000 for COVID-19 tests. The validity of his first test result on October 1 expired due to the 72-hour validity policy in Saudi Arabia.

Due to this, Gamarcho was tested again for COVID-19 and the result was released on Friday night.

"Kahapon pa kami dito. Natutulog lang kami sa semento. Pagdating ng flight namin ika-cancel lang pala dito. Wala kaming mapapala. Wala kaming makakain. Wala kaming matutulugan,” he said.

PAL spokesperson Cielo Villaluna apologized to the affected passengers and explained that the cancellations were due to airport slot restrictions in Riyadh.

“Passengers of the cancelled PR654 Manila Riyadh and PR655 Riyadh-Manila are being assisted with their flights out of Manila and out of Riyadh, respectively,” she said.

“The October 2 Manila-Riyadh flight was cancelled due to airport slot restrictions in Riyadh airport. This also led to the cancellation of the return flight to Manila,” she added. —Joviland Rita/KG, GMA News