AirAsia Philippines has repatriated 125 Filipino sea crew from India to Manila, the airline’s longest flight to date.

The 14-hour chartered flight, which flew from Gujarat, India to Manila, was coordinated by five local manning agencies whose seamen had been stranded in Bhavnagar for weeks.

 “We are pleased to have not only mounted the longest flight ever for AirAsia Philippines but, at the same time, helped repatriate Filipinos overseas. We know how much they have longed to come home and we are honored to be part of their safe return to the Philippines,” Ricky Isla, AirAsia Philippines chief executive said. 

The special recovery flight was facilitated by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Regent Travel Corporation.

Prior to this flight, AirAsia Philippines’ longest round-trip flight was between Manila and Yangon on June 12, with a duration of 8 hours. It was a special recovery flight carrying 152 Myanmar nationals from Manila.

The average duration of Z2 commercial international one-way flights is 3 hours. 

AirAsia Philippines has mounted nearly 400 special recovery and cargo flights since 16 March 2020, flying over 25,000 passengers and over 600,000 kilograms of cargo to nearly 30 domestic and international destinations.