UAE-Philippines flights: Despite eased rules, high airfares worry expats

UAE-Philippines flights: Despite eased rules, high airfares worry expats

Filipino expats in the UAE-- many of whom haven’t seen their families for over two years -- were overjoyed now that they can finally go home without having to spend days in quarantine. To some, however, the good news came with a caveat: Airfares are still too high. Marvin, a Netizen who commented on Khaleej Times ' Facebook post, said in Filipino: "No quarantine but the ticket is too expensive." Facebook user Sarah Jasmin Camarillo Rahul agreed: "The fare is too expensive, especially for Abu Dhabi-Manila flights. Some even offer only business class seats." var width=document.documentElement.clientWidth;if(width>=320&&width<728){}; googletag.cmd.push(function(){try{var d=document.documentElement.clientWidth;var a;var c="/21857811890/en.zcom/";var b;if(d>=320&&d<728){a=[300,250];b=["mobile_mr_story"]}else{a=[300,250];b=["MR_Story"]}var h="MR_Story";var g=googletag.defineSlot("/21857811890/en.zcom/",a,"div-gpt-ad-MR_Story").setTargeting("type",b).addService(googletag.pubads());gptAdSlots.push(g);if(h!="MR_Story"){googletag.pubads().collapseEmptyDivs(true,true)}googletag.pubads().enableSingleRequest();googletag.enableServices();if((h=="PSB_Left")||(h=="mobile_psb_left")||(h=="PSB_Top")||(h=="mobile_psb_top")||(h=="PSB_Bottom")||(h=="mobile_psb_bottom")||(h=="PSB_Middle")||(h=="mobile_psb_middle")||(h=="leaderboard_home")||(h=="leaderboard_bottom_home")||(h=="mobile_leaderboard_home")||(h=="mobile_leaderboard_bottom_home")){setInterval(function(){googletag.pubads().refresh([g])},240000)}}catch(f){console.log("Error loading Ad banner "+h)}}); try{googletag.cmd.push(function(){googletag.display("div-gpt-ad-MR_Story")})}catch(e){console.log("Error displaying Ad banner "+bannerName)}; Malou Prado, CEO and owner of MPQ Tourism, said one-way tickets cost around Dh4,700 and while roundtrips ranged from Dh6,000 to Dh6,200. “Airlines are yet to resume daily flights. At the moment, trips are scheduled and certain capacity limits are still being implemented. Considering this scenario, the supply is not enough to meet the strong demand; hence, flight tickets are still expensive,” Prado said. Before the pandemic, Philippine ticket rates at this time of the year would stand at just Dh1,800, going up to Dh4,000 as Christmas nears,