AirAsia Philippines operates special seafarers’ repatriation flight between Manila & Mattala

AirAsia Philippines (Z2) marked its first flight to Sri Lanka over the weekend on a ship crew exchange mission to repatriate Filipino seafarers. 

The chartered flight departed from Manila with 11 international seafarers for the exchange at 10:24 am (local time) on August 9 and arrived at Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport at 1:25 PM (local time) on the same day. Flight Z2 8161 departed from Sri Lanka with 14 Filipino seafarers on August 10 at 8:21 am (local time), the airline’s Sri Lanka GSA said in a media release. 

This is also considered the first ever charter flight launched by the AirAsia group to Sri Lanka in support of the repatriation efforts.

“Since the Covid-19 pandemic has been controlled within the country, Sri Lanka has been able to come to the aid of the international shipping community by being a safe location for facilitating the change of ship crew, which is critical for the safe operation of ships. In light of this opportunity, Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport - the largest international airport serving Southeast Sri Lanka, is poised to become a hub for international ship crew changes,” the release said.

This initiative was a result of the collaborative efforts of Mack Air – the GSA in Sri Lanka for AirAsia and Ceyline Group, put forward in order to assist the repatriation of international seafarers of different nationalities.

Chief Executive Officer of Mack Air, Anil Bandara said, “This is the first time AirAsia has operated a charter flight to Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport. With our experience in global representations in the aviation industry spanning over 40 years and the team of experts, it was an absolute pleasure to oversee this operation. We are proud to pledge our commitment to enable safe travel for seafarers awaiting repatriation, amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic-induced travel restrictions.”