CLARK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT — Starting October 1, the largest airline in the Middle East and one of the world’s fastest growing airlines, will mount daily, non-stop flights to this airport from Dubai.
Emirates (airlines), announced on Monday that it will begin daily, non-stop flights here, its second destination in the Philippines.
Emirates is currently operating over 2,500 flights per week from its hub at Terminal 3 at the Dubai International Airport to 122 cities in 74 countries across six continents.
The airline has been operating flights to Manila since 1990 and, due to the demand, has continued to increase its flight frequency to its current triple daily, non-stop service.
According to a report from Emirates Dubai, this airport’s strategic location means it has a catchment area of 17 million people.
“There has always been a growing demand for Emirates’ services since we connected Manila with Dubai and our constantly expanding network on six continents. The launch of flights between Clark International Airport and Dubai will offer our passengers the flexibility of choosing from two destinations in the Philippines,” said Tim Clark, Emirates president.
“I would like to extend Emirates’ thanks to the Government of the Philippines and the Civil Aviation and Clark Authority that have made the start of this service possible, we look forward to building on our relationship with the country and the enhancement of key tourism and trade links between the Philippines and the UAE, and beyond to our global network,” added Clark.
Meanwhile, the Emirates’ announcement generated positive response from investors here. Dennis Wright, president and CEO of Peregrine Development International Inc., a US management company here, said the Emirates’ announcement is “fantastic news for Clark.”
He noted that Emirates is now the second major scheduled airlines flying out of Clark, the other being Asiana, in addition to eight additional low cost carriers continuing to expand Clark’s offerings which last year approached 1.4 million passengers and targets 2.5 million in 2013. Clark Is It!,” he added.
Operated by a two-class Boeing 777-300ER, EK338 will depart Dubai at 0400hrs and arrive here at 1640hrs.
The return flight, EK339 will depart at 1835hrs and arrive at Dubai International Airport at 2305hrs.
With the new daily flights to this airport, Emirates SkyCargo will be able to provide more than 160 tons of additional cargo hold capacity each way per week, further supporting Philippines exports of perishables, such as dairy products, fruits and vegetables, meat, seafood and electrical and electronic equipment, and its imports of textiles, apparel, plants, flowers and chemical products.
According to a report, a government study estimated that there are 10 million Filipinos living outside the Philippines – about 10 percent of the country’s home population.
The largest number of overseas Filipinos reside mainly in the United States. The region with the largest temporary overseas Filipino population is the Middle East with approximately 2.9 million Filipinos, of whom 680,000 live in the UAE.
Central Luzon is one of the leading growth regions in the Philippines and is host to the country’s premier economic zones – the Clark Freeport Zone and the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.
The region is known for its rich coastline and for the emerging tourist attraction of Mount Pinatubo, an active volcano that following a hike to its crater offers breath-taking views of the surrounding area.
