MANILA, Philippines - Low cost carrier AirAsia Inc. Philippines mounted its newest Clark-Singapore flight yesterday in a bid to further boost trade and tourism between the two bilateral trading partners.
Alfredo Herrera, head of commercial for AirAsia, said in a statement that Singapore is an attractive destination for Filipinos and AirAsia would make it even more attractive for guests including overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) with super low promo fares, reliable and on time service.
“AirAsia’s daily routes to Singapore cater to the growing demand for both business and leisure travel, and equally important, this new route will provide low cost, high value service for our OFWs in Singapore so they can come home and reunite with their families as often as possible,” Herrera stressed.
Data from the Philippine embassy in Singapore showed that there are 177,600 Filipinos in Singapore. Of the total number, about 106,600 Filipinos are working as professionals while 71,000 are domestic helpers.
The maiden flight PQ 7491 left at 6:10 a.m. and arrived 9:40 a.m. and carried 180 passengers.
Herrera said the new flight reaffirms AirAsia’s commitment to help drive tourism and trade in the country especially in Clark, Pampanga.
“With our newest routes and low fares, we are connecting more and more people from the Philippines to Singapore and to AirAsia’s extensive network covering 85 destinations in 24 countries,” he said.
AirAsia set up its hub in Clark, Pampanga in 2011 as part of its commitment to develop tourism and transportation outside Metro Manila. It was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission in March last year to engage primarily in the business of air transportation in the Philippines and abroad for passenger and cargo.
AirAsia Inc. is a 60-40 joint venture between Filipino investors Antonio O. Cojuangco, Michael L. Romero and Marianne Hontiveros, and Malaysia’s AirAsia International Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of AirAsia Berhad.
The AirAsia Group confirmed another 100 Airbus A320 which further acknowledges its dominance in Asia to have a record 475 narrow bodies on order with Airbus. The 100 Airbus A320s ordered consist of 36 A320s with the Current Engine Option and 64 A320s with the New Engine Option (NEO).
The contract reaffirms AirAsia’s position as the largest A320 Family customer in the world. Altogether, the carrier has now ordered 475 single aisle aircraft from Airbus, comprising 264 A320neo and 211 A320ceo.
Over 100 aircraft have already been delivered to the airline and this additional purchase would see AirAsia’s aircraft deliveries continue until year 2021.