Subic Comes Back To Life

8 July 2021

@flyPAL PR5683 landing at Subic Bay International Airport @bayanmo @ABSCBNNews @gmanews @rapplerdotcom pic.twitter.com/T8897ikZit

— Rick Hunter (@PoorPilot) July 7, 2021

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) is bringing Subic Bay International Airport (SBIA) on Wednesday back to life as it brought home 299 returning Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) from Dammam, KSA, marking the first time that a passenger flight formally arrived at the airport since 2011.

 

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma described PAL’s OFW flight as “a momentous occasion, as it marked the first time that the Subic airport served as an alternate entry point for OFWs wanting to return to the Philippines.” 

 

“This is also the first time that a commercial flight arrived here in Subic after a decade of drought, the last one being the Astro Air flight that arrived here in 2011,” Eisma recalled. 

 

The flight Wednesday was the second of six flights rerouted by PAL to Subic this month under the government’s reepatriation program to facilitate the return of overseas Filipinos during the pandemic. 

 

The first PAL flight that was supposed to arrive Monday in Subic but was rerouted to Clark Freeport Zone due to strong tailwinds, the SBMA said. 

 

The plane also originated from Dammam and carried 309 OFWs, two seamen, and one ROF.

 

The other PAL flights expected to arrive at SBIA are on July 15, 17, 25, and 27, with an average of 230 passengers in each of the PAL Airbus A330-300 aircraft.

 

Eisma said the OFW flights to Subic are in line with the policy of the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) to impose a limit for all international airports in the country to accommodate just 1,500 passengers per day. 

 

Because of this, PAL has distributed its flights to various airports to accommodate the market, she noted.