(ICON. Miag-ao Church, a UNESCO Heritage Site, is now but an hour hop from the Clark International Airport with the opening of the Clark-Iloilo route by Philippines AirAsia. Photo by Bong Lacson)
CLARK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT – Three more domestic routes were simultaneously opened by Philippines AirAsia (PAA) here starting February 3 to Iloilo in Western Visayas, Puerto Princesa, Palawan and Tacloban in Leyte.
“Our commitment is to better connect Clark to secondary cities within the Philippines like Iloilo, Tacloban, and Puerto Princesa to ASEAN region where the AirAsia Group has unparalleled and widest connectivity, and to destinations across Northeast Asia, Australasia, the Middle East, and the United States,” Capt. Darren Acorda, chief pilot for training and standards of PAA, said during an elaborate ceremony at the launching of the new routes at the domestic terminal here over the weekend.
This is in line with the airline’s commitment to make the Clark International Airport (CIA) its main hub for operations, as the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) has inadequate space for its fleet expansion, he added.
Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) OIC Alexander Cauguiran said there are now 20 domestic destinations from Clark: Basco, Batanes; Bagabag, Nueva Vizcaya; Balesin; Naga in Camarines Sur, Virac, Catanduanes and Masbate in the Bicol region; Puerto Princesa, El Nido and Busuanga, in Palawan; Kalibo, Aklan and Caticlan in Boracay; Cebu; Tagbilaran, Bohol; Iloilo; Bacolod, Negros Occidental; Tacloban in Leyte, Catarman, Catbalogan in Samar in Eastern Visayas; Davao and Cagayan De Oro in Mindanao.
Cauguiran said this adds to 254 flights a week, excluding 166 international flights which sums up to 420 weekly fl ights and averages 65 flights daily.
This is from only seven flights a week before Cauguiran assumed as OIC of CIAC in the last quarter of 2016 replacing Dino Tanjuatco.
Meanwhile, the PAA’s flights between this airport and Puerto Princesa as well as Clark and Iloilo operate three times a week or every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
The budget airline also operates flights between to Tacloban every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
Aside from the three new domestic flights, PAA also flies to Davao, Kalibo, and Caticlan from Clark using Airbus 320s, which can accommodate up to 180 passengers.
Aside from Clark, AirAsia also offers flights to Iloilo, Tacloban, and Puerto Princesa from its hubs in Manila, Cebu, and Davao.
Philippines AirAsia is a wholly owned subsidiary of AirAsia Inc., which is a joint venture company among Filipino investors Antonio Cojuangco, former Ambassador Alfredo Yao, Michael Romero, Marianne Hontiveros, and Malaysia’s AirAsia Berhad. PAA operates a fl eet of 17 aircraft with domestic and international routes.
The budget airline has several fl ights to and from Manila, Davao, Cebu, Kalibo, Caticlan (Boracay), Tacloban, Tagbilaran (Bohol), Puerto Princesa (Palawan), Clark, and Iloilo.
PAA also operates flights to and from Shanghai, Taipei, Incheon (Seoul), Hong Kong, Macau, Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu, Guangzhou, Ho Chi Minh, Singapore, Jakarta, and Bali.
In the next three to five years, PAA chief executive officer Dexter Comendador said they target to double their fleet. By 2032, PAA aims to have 70 planes.
