RIBBON CUTTING: Nica Natanawan, Sunlight Air accounting manager; Shirley Ng, Sunlight Air legal counsel; Noemi Julian, CDC Tourism Head; Ryna Brito, CEO of Sunlight Air; Bi Yomg Chungungco, LIPAD CEO; and Carolina Uy, DOT-3 regional director cut the ribbon during the formal launching of Sunlight Air’s new travel bubble route Clark-Busuanga flight on Friday. Photo by Ashley Manabat
CLARK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT—As the coronavirus pandemic rages on and summer creeps closer, vacations and travels as we knew them will not be happening this year.
People are sheltering in place and many countries have closed their borders to prevent the spread of the virus.
But there is a glimmer of hope – the Travel Bubble has arrived. Sunlight Air inaugurated here on Friday its Travel Bubble package’s new route: Clark-Busuanga.
“We are starting our Clark operations today. We are trying to make tourism possible again,” said Ryna Brito, CEO and accountable manager of Sunlight Air.
“Given the movement of flights now and seeing how empty this airport is, maybe we’ll start with having once a month flight from Clark and then we’ll see if tourism picks up again, we can keep adding more flights,” she said before the formal cutting of the ribbon for the inaugural flight to Busuanga.
Brito explained that travel bubble “basically is taking you from your home to SETIR (Sunlight Eco-Tourism Island Resort in Busuanga) as seamless as possible.”
“We are making travel possible again. So, from your house to go to your destination, that’s a bubble,” she pointed out. “You don’t have to go through any external travels to get to the resort.”
“So, for example from Clark, you take the aircraft to Busuanga. From there, you will be picked up by a private vehicle and then a private speed boat and you are at the resort already,” she explained.
“SETIR is a sister company of Sunlight Air. We are working with other partners in Busuanga. Right now, we are in the process of signing a contract with Club Paradise. So, soon they will be one of our partners,” Brito said. “Sunlight Air will be taking you to Club Paradise through a travel bubble also. So, you can get to that destination the safest way possible.”
“So, what we do is we create packages so that when you pay, everything is already included like a round trip air fare, accommodations, and even dining credits,” she added.
Clark-Busuanga starts at P31,000 per person for four days and three nights with free breakfasts and one meal ticket plus dining credits.
“Also, the reason why we are called travel bubble and the reason why we create seamless travel experiences is because we have partners with accredited clinics – if you need to get tested before your flight, we can just send a med-tech representative to your house, so it won’t be too bothersome for you,” she said.
Covid-19 has too many processes and that makes travelling too bothersome, Brito rued.
“We want to take away the hassle when travelling. People shy-away because there ae too many requirements,” she lamented. “What we do is we make travelling as simple as we can.”
Luzon International Premiere Airport Development Corp. CEO Bi Yong Chungungco congratulated Sunlight Air for inaugurating their new Travel Bubble route Clark-Busuanga despite the raging pandemic.
Also present during the inauguration were Department of Tourism Central Luzon director Carolina Uy and Clark Development Corp. tourism head Noemi Julian.
