MANILA, Philippines - Fifteen years ago in El Nido, Palawan, German pilot Iren Dornier dreamed he would make travel to all the beautiful islands of the Philippines easy and accessible. But such a wish actually first took shape in a country several thousands of miles away, across the Pacific Ocean, during a cross-country flight to Mexico.
“We discovered a breathtaking area near Manzanillo in western Mexico,” said Nikos Gitsis, SEAIR director and co-founder, and Dornier’s longtime friend and business partner. “It was in a rural area and was very difficult to get to. We thought a small air service was necessary.”
A fateful holiday trip to Palawan in December 1994 convinced Dornier that the Philippines would be the perfect home for their future airline.
“I came to this country by accident. I initially planned to go to Phuket, Thailand but all the flights were booked. I ended up in El Nido instead,” Dornier said.
He continued, “I’ve always loved the jungle. As a child, I used to paint our entire kitchen wall with rainforest landscape, tropical islands, and animals. So when I saw Palawan, I fell in love instantly. I believe it was destiny.”
“I received a call from Iren and he told me how Club Noah in Palawan needed a charter service to move their guests from Manila to the resort,” said Gitsis. “Since we had talked about flying somewhere, it seemed only natural that we start it in the Philippines.”
In 1995, Iren Dornier, Nikos Gitsis and Tomas Lopez, then president of Club Noah, founded SEAIR with an investment of P2 million and two nine-seater airplanes. They set up their headquarters in the Clark Special Economic Zone, the first domestic airline to do so.
SEAIR started flying from Manila to Caticlan and Manila to Rodriguez and Busuanga, Palawan. The airline also transported light cargo such as chicken and fish to and from its destinations when passengers were scarce.
“We experienced a honeymoon period and things seemed to go well,” said Gitsis, “But honestly, the first three to four years were very challenging.”
In 1996, SEAIR brought its first LET410 aircraft, a 19-seater plane that performs Short Take-Off and Landing (STOL). The LET was ideal for the small runways of Palawan and Caticlan. But it took some time for SEAIR to have the plane certified and used for commercial flights.
“Running an airline is very difficult in any case, and every country has its ups and downs,” said Gitsis. “The competition is tough and the Philippine economic climate during the first few years was difficult. We encountered crises on an almost a yearly basis such as the 1997 currency crisis, hostage situations in 2000 and 2001, the bird flu, SARS, and local and political instability that affected tourism arrivals.”
“The failure rate for foreigners starting a business in this country is awfully high,” Dornier said. “But we still made it because my good friend Nick always stayed by my side. We are like a chameleon. You can zoom in on us and shoot us but the bullet always comes in between.”
After the initial hurdle, SEAIR took to the skies and soared higher.
Using the original fleet and flying multiple flights daily, SEAIR helped to open up Northern Palawan and Boracay to mainstream tourism. This greatly helped the development of these destinations to be what they are today.
In 1998, the airline expanded its operations and began pioneering missionary routes. It opened regional hubs in Cebu and Zamboanga to offer routes in far-flung areas such as Camiguin, Siargao, Cotabato, Jolo and Tawi-tawi, as well as interconnecting flights in Palawan: Manila-Busuanga-El Nido-Puerto Princesa and vice versa.
SEAIR was certified ISO 9001:2000 compliant for quality management systems in 2003. In the same year, the airline was awarded “Best Airline of the Year” for the second consecutive year by the Philippines’ largest Consumers Excellence Award. By this time SEAIR had increased its fleet almost tenfold, with nine LET410s to its name.
In 2003, Dornier removed the vintage Dornier 24ATT from the Deutsch Museum in Munich, Germany and brought it to the SEAIR hangar in Clark with the idea of restoring it as a luxury aircraft. It was the first seaplane to reach Philippine shores. It took months for Filipino engineers, mechanics and craftsmen to put this amphibious 19-seater aircraft back into good flying condition, as well as a US$6 million investment from SEAIR. The restoration was Dornier’s tribute to the pioneering efforts of his grandfather, the famed aircraft manufacturer, Claude Dornier.
“The seaplane was my favorite among the aircraft my grandfather built and its return to the skies serve as the fulfillment and culmination of a lifelong dream,” said Dornier.
After a successful launch at the Manila Bay, the seaplane flew around the world to promote Philippine tourism and raise funds for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). One of the event highlights was the historic landing of the Do-24ATT on the Hudson River at the same place where 74 years ago Claude Dornier presented the Dornier Do-X, the most powerful aircraft at the time. The seaplane world tour dubbed “Mission: Dream” helped equip needy Philippine schools with 100-book libraries, educational toys, well-trained teachers, and even toilets with clean water.
The following year, SEAIR introduced the state-of-the-art Dornier 328 and began flying from Manila to Caticlan in 35 minutes — the first, the fastest and the only one of its kind to be offered by a commercial airline to date.
“We leveraged our position as the most modern aircraft fleet operator with the Dornier 328,” said Gitsis. “No other aircraft in the same size and category can be considered a serious contender.” There are now four Dornier 328s that fly to SEAIR destinations.
In 2006, SEAIR introduced the first online e-ticketing system in the country and to offer flights to Caticlan. SEAIR reservations hit the P1 million mark only two weeks after the system was implemented.
SEAIR reached another milestone when it launched its first international flight to Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia in 2008.
When asked what their future plans are, Dornier replied, “I like the idea of having an aviation school here in the Philippines. I would like to open a Dornier Flight Academy.
“We have a lot of great people in this country and this academy would link the Philippines to the rest of the world,” he added.
Today, SEAIR boasts of two sophisticated hangars in Clark and offices in Makati and Cebu. From ferrying resort guests to and from Palawan, the airline now flies to 12 destinations all over the country — Clark, Caticlan (Boracay), Cebu, Manila, Basco (Batanes), El Nido, Tablas (Romblon), Marinduque, San Fernando (La Union), Zamboanga, Jolo and Tawi-tawi. The airline has since served over three million passengers.
Looking back at their humble beginnings, Gitsis said, “We had a rough run in the early years but that was to be expected. The airline business is no easy street and I had no regrets. SEAIR is my ultimate dream realized and I have Iren and the Philippines to thank for that.”
“A lot of people thought we were not in for the long haul but we have already found our home here,” continued Gitsis. “Iren and I consider ourselves Filipino already.”