Sponsors can facilitate the travel of their domestic workers on flights with ticket prices ranging from KD140 to KD160 for Indians traveling via Kuwait Airways and Jazeera Airways while for Filipino workers the costs may reach upto KD 200 through Kuwait Airways, according to the market price, with the possibility for a further reduction, Al Anba daily reported. Jazeera Airways does not fly to the Philippines.
Official sources in the General Administration of Civil Aviation revealed that the online platform approved at Kuwait Airport, which will be managed by Nass Ground Services, will allow sponsors to book tickets for the return of their domestic workers as part of its list of features.
The sources said to the daily that the first plan, which will start on the seventh of this month, is expected to reach only half of the numbers of domestic workers stranded abroad over a period of one and a half to two months, out of a total of 80,000, due to the failure of some sponsors to renew the residency visas of their employees or the unwillingness of some domestic workers to return.
The Civil Aviation authority (DGCA) earlier said the return of expat domestic workers to the country on direct flights will begin on 7 December, with plans for 14-day COVID-19 mandatory state quarantines for 80,000 individuals put in place. The plan will save on costs for employers (sponsors), paving the way for direct flights back instead of being subject to costs pertaining to a quarantine period abroad as was the case before the decision, DGCA Director General Youssef Al-Fawzan said in a press statement.
The huge endeavor, which will witness the entry of 600 people a day, has been given a four-month timeframe. It will begin with India and the Philippines followed by other unspecified countries, according to the official, and will include logistical services, shelter, catering and security.
The employees will each stay at one of 58 state quarantine buildings, where they will undergo three PCR checks and receive three meals a day under Ministry of Health supervision. Men and women will be housed in separate facilities.
“The success of the plan, in its initial stages, will move us to other stages for the return of the rest of the categories of residents in an orderly manner in coordination with the concerned government agencies and in cooperation with the private sector,” added the official. State carrier Kuwait Airways and locally-owned Jazeera Airways will each be in charge of flying the employees and have been urged to provide competitive prices for the flights, Acting Deputy Director Saleh Al-Fadaghi said. Kuwait-based aviation services provider, NAS, has been handed the roles of transportation, housing, catering, cleaning and security with costs reduced to KD 270 per person from KD 550, he added.
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