The Road To Being Number One

The first Sunday of September was not much different from the ones I had here in the Staff House. It was cloudy when I woke up, but the sun slowly showed its rays. I had to spend a night at Cebu Doctors last Tuesday for a series of tests on account of a visual acuity problem I felt for the first time, as I was reading the newspapers last Friday after work. The results did not provide anything to really worry about; in fact I played basketball the day after and had a more than usual terrific game. In retrospect, life is really good, and here in the Airport of Mactan, I feel that the good things are just beginning to happen.

Tourism Secretary Joseph "Ace" Durano declared that tourist arrivals in the country from January to July rose 6.1 percent to 1.92 million; and even if the current economic slowdown has affected the growth rates in tourist arrivals, the fast growing market of China remained strong. He mentioned that the direct flights between Shanghai and Cebu have resulted in a 267 percent jump in visitors directly arriving at Mactan Cebu International Airport.

Indeed aside from Cathay Pacific, we have had already four different China carriers that flew charter flights to Mactan from places like Naning and Shanghai. China Southern started the Cebu-Shanghai route last year, China Eastern took over and Shanghai Airlines followed and stayed for a while. China Eastern has extended their charters to Shanghai until October 31. Shenzhen Airline flew the Cebu-Naning route, and its officials came last Tuesday to inspect our facilities and discuss future schedules.

Our direct flights to Doha continue to make good. In fact we await their longer and higher-capacity Airbus 340-600 anytime now. After the recently concluded RP-Iran talks, we expect Iran's Mahan Airlines to be at Mactan by next year. As far as the super jumbo Airbus 380 is concerned, Emirates, the first Middle East carrier to operate this aircraft, considers Mactan-Cebu as a divert base in case NAIA is closed to traffic.

We have reached 70 flights weekly in international flights early this year. It is not surprising that we hit the 80s barrier soon. Routes to the Korean cities of Inchon and Pusan lead in terms of number, with 29 weekly flights from four airlines: Asiana, Cebu Pacific, Korean Air and PAL. This is followed by both Hong Kong and Singapore with 12 flights each from Cathay Pacific, Cebu Pacific, PAL and Silk Air. PAL continues to fly the Narita route five times weekly; Mandarin Airlines to Taipei and Kaoshung, six times; QATAR Airlines to Doha three times and Malaysian Airlines to KL and Kota Kinabalu, twice weekly.

Cebu Pacific has connected its regional flights to Asian cities to its domestic hub here in Mactan. PAL has done the same with its Narita, Hong Kong, KL and Inchon flights to the PAL Express and Air Philippine sectors at our Mactan Hub.

From 233 flights weekly in 2006, we now have between 260 to 290 domestic flights weekly. When the Cebu Pacific turbo-prop ATRs start their hub operations at Mactan and PAL Express Q400s reach their maximum of four aircraft home-porting here, we may attain the 300 flights-weekly mark.

The flights between the two gateways (Manila-Cebu) have reached a high of 123 flights weekly - that's 17 flights a day. Cebu to Davao is 29 flights weekly (four times daily). By year's end, flights to business centers of Bacolod, Cagayan De Oro and Iloilo will reach three times daily. Of course, Cebu to Boracay flights is also expected to increase and will be more than three times daily. Starting the first of October, Cebu - Clark route will have daily flights via ATR aircraft. All other destinations will also have daily flights from Cebu.

General aviation (rotary and 12-seater-and-below fixed-wing aircraft) activity has also increased in our Mactan Hub, as inputs from our General Aviation Terminal have shown. Aerial sightseeing tours to Bohol and other nearby landmarks continue to increase. Aviation schools have experienced more and more international student registration. Hangars and small aircraft parking aprons are slowly reaching their capacity limits.

Next issue: The dream continues....developing the airport facilities