More than 400 Filipinos from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) arrived Saturday afternoon at Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 aboard a government-chartered flight amid tensions in the Middle East.

The aircraft landed shortly after noon carrying 442 passengers, including more than 200 overseas Filipino workers, according to the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW).

Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac was also on board the chartered Boeing 747-400 flight.

“We have landed. Four hundred forty-two Filipinos from the UAE on the Philippine government-chartered flight are home,” Cacdac said in a Facebook post.

The returning Filipinos were received by government teams from the DMW, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Health, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and the Bureau of Immigration.

Another charter flight carrying 341 distressed OFWs from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain is expected to arrive Sunday at NAIA.

Officials said OFWs from Bahrain and Kuwait were assisted by teams from the OWWA, DMW and Philippine embassies in the region to reach Riyadh, where they boarded the repatriation flight.

Government agencies also provided welfare assistance while repatriation arrangements were being completed, including help with travel documentation, temporary accommodation and transportation support.

The repatriation operations are funded through the Emergency Repatriation Fund administered by the OWWA.

Officials said additional charter flights are being arranged to bring home Filipinos seeking repatriation from areas affected by the Middle East crisis.