It’s Good to Be Back Home Again: Purser Buadromo

Panapasa Buadromo has thanked his employer and the Fijian High Commission in Australia for allowing his return home after being stuck in the Philippines for over two months. Mr Buadromo was among the 21 Fijians repatriated on an A330-neo Aircalin flight on Monday.

The repatriation flight was chartered by Carnival Corporation, the parent company of P&O Cruises Australia, where Mr Buadromo is an employee.

He is a senior assistant purser onboard the Pacific Explorer where he’s worked under the guest services department at P&O Cruises Australia since 2010.

The 33-year-old said they were also accompanied by 126 Ni-Vanuatu. How they became stranded

He said when the world was declared COVID-19 pandemic, the Pacific Explorer returned to Sydney. However, it was not permitted to enter the Australian port given the COVID-19 response measures there.

The ship then sailed to Manila, Philippines, where a majority of the crew were from.

Anchored there at the Manila Bay, the local crew were isolated then permitted to enter port. As for the international crew once they completed their isolation, they were allowed to gather essential items from the city then return to the ship. Other crew members returned to their home country and they remained.

Then came their turn to be repatriated.

“They (Carnival Corporation) worked very closely with the Fijian High Commission in Australia who was very helpful in obtaining all of the permissions to allow the flight to return,” he said.

“This included clearance for the flight to land, organising quarantine requirements, providing policies and procedures etc,” he added.

Upon disembarking from the flight, Mr Buadromo and 20 others are now being isolated in a Government-funded facility.