MANILA, Philippines — Philippine Airlines will temporarily halt its flights to and from Kuwait starting May 16, citing falling demand.
The move came barely two months after the Philippine government ordered a total ban on the deployment of overseas Filipino workers to the Gulf country.
In a statement, the flag carrier said the ongoing slowdown in OFW travel to Kuwait “has made regular operations economically unsustainable.”
The suspension will be in place “until such time that market conditions on the route improve,” it added.
“Instead, PAL will continue to serve Kuwait through our flights to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam, as the airline with the largest network of routes between the Philippines and the Middle East,” PAL said.
The airline advised affected passengers to rebook their flights on or before May 16, reroute their flights or refund their unused tickets.
President Duterte earlier banned the deployment of new migrant workers to Kuwait and ordered the repatriation of distressed OFWs there after the body of Joanna Demafelis was discovered inside a freezer in her employer’s home in Kuwait.
Demafelis' employers, a Lebanese man and his Syrian wife, were sentenced to death in absentia by the Kuwaiti court.
READ: Koko: Mending of ties with Kuwait urgent after Demafelis employers sentenced to death