Cebu Wants Expanded Assistance From PAL

The Freeman
September 3, 1998
Business

CEBU CITY – Cebu wants Philippine Airlines (PAL), the nation’s flag carrier, to expand its present service at the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) to restore the island’s monicker as the “regional aviation hub” in this part of the world.

While the Asian financial crisis does not have a full impact on Cebu’s economy as the island is largely export-oriented, it was actually the PAL pilots’ strike that had greatly affected its once booming tourism industry due to scuttled domestic and international flights.

Both domestic and foreign tourist arrivals in the province have been steadily registered in Cebu before the strike which cut off regular PAL flights between Cebu and key points in Southern Philippines and Manila including neighboring countries like Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Taiwan, Australia and other destinations.

But today, even if PAL has improved its on-time performance (Aug. 1-25, 1998 figure) by 91 percent with an efficient personnel force  of 730 with 448 handling ground facilities, the number of flights leaving and arriving in Mactan has been drastically reduced, according to Simoun Canton Jr., chief of the Mactan PAL office who also acts as PAL’s spokesperson here.

As of now, he said PAL operates seven flight between Cebu and Manila on flights on Wednesday and five the rest of the days.

PAL, until now, does not have any domestic flights going to other points in Visayas and Mindanao emanating from Mactan, he lamented.

According to him, PAL’s flights from Cebu to destinations outside the country is only the Cebu-Narita-Cebu run on Wednesday, Thursday  and Sunday.
Cebu however can still make a connection to other countries and make a check through at Mactan going to the US and other points in the world, he revealed.

But the Cebu Express coming from Los Angeles and San Francisco in the US can no longer have baggages of passengers checked out at Mactan since they will now have to do that in Manila, he explained.

But Canton said there is big prospect for more international flights to be operated by PAL aside from the on-going Manila flights to Los Angeles and San Francisco.

By October, he said there will be flights to the Middle East, Australia, and other points in Asia such as Xiamen and Brunei.

PAL also plans to start the Cebu-Osaka-Cebu flight and a Manila-Fukuoka-Manila flight, he added.

In flights to the Middle East, he said possible destination points are Riyadh and Daharam in Saudi Arabia.

Flights to Australia will go to Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

Cebu’s business community however is not content with just the Cebu-Manila-Cebu flights to service the domestic routes.

Danny Quinto, vice president of Global Business Bank in Cebu city, said Cebu businessmen have been having problems  commuting between Cebu and other points in the Visayas and Mindanao because of the absence of PAL flights.

Not all points have been serviced by other airlines like Cebu Pacific Air and Air Philippines, he complained.

He said to go to Bacolod by plane, Cebuanos have to fly to Manila.

This is also the case when they go to Iloilo, he added. (PNA)