RP aviation boosts domestic tourism

Despite the gloom and doom scenarios of the global aviation industry, there is a bright spot in our local aviation industry, it is that the domestic flight service has truly grown by leaps and bounds. Those old “Missionary Routes” that Philippine Airlines (PAL) once abandoned as financial pit traps have suddenly emerged as financially viable because those far-flung cities have also grown economically as well.

Cebu Pacific used new kinds of aircraft like the ATR 72-500s a year ago, followed by PAL when it inaugurated its latest offering PAL Express that uses the Bombardier Aerospace Q300 and Q400 into the Caticlan Airport, Aklan. This fierce competition of PAL, Cebu Pacific, including SeaAir and Zest Airlines that recently bought Asian Spirit has helped the economy grow and develop into mature and financially-viable tourism markets that boost our local domestic tourism potential.

If Philippine aviation has a distinct advantage over the Aviation industries of Singapore or Hong Kong, it is that we have a wide domestic market, because we are an archipelagic country. Let us hope that this healthy competition would continue because the promo fares of these airlines make air travel irresistibly cheap.

While that’s the good news in Philippine Aviation, we just got hold of a big bad news. Last Sunday Zest Air crash-landed its brand new made-in-China aircraft in Caticlan Airport in Aklan, shutting down the operations of the airport until the aircraft was removed. Here’s a newcomer into the aviation industry with brand new planes and it results in an accident. Luckily no one was killed in that accident.

I have always been very interested in air crashes as investigating them is a science in itself. It would be judgmental if we merely blamed this accident because Zest Air uses a “Made-in-China” aircraft. I hope our air crash investigators from the Air Transportation Office would come up with the results of this accident if this was a case of pilot error or the crash was aircraft related.

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Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) was in Cebu last Sunday to look into the various infrastructure projects. She was appalled by the one-year delay at the North Coastal Road. Hello! Madam President, we still haven’t forgotten how you blew your top when you saw the delay of the Naga-Uling Road. So what’s new with DPWH?

Last Monday, the President choppered to the town of Hagnaya, San Remigio and got a briefing from Cebu Port Authority (CPA) General Manager Angelo Verdan on the P36 million dredging of the hard undersea bedrock and the installation of the lighted markers at the Hagnaya Port.

I was on the bridge of the M/V Sta. Filomena 30 years ago on my way to Bantayan Island when then Rep. Ramon Durano Sr. came on board. As we left the port, we stopped just 500 yards away, still within sight of Hagnaya. The vessel had to stop and we had to move to another vessel waiting in the middle of the channel using bancas so we could continue on to Bantayan. Efforts to dredge the shallow portion failed because of the solid bedrock. Rep. Durano then vowed that he would look for funds to blast the solid bedrock but it never came about. 

 Kudos to CPA General Manager Angie Verdan for finally making the Port of Hagnaya a 24-hour port of call that can now serve the President’s pet program Strong Republic Nautical Highway (SRNH). Solving this infrastructure project took more than 30 years to resolve. That’s the Philippines!

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No doubt the festive air of the Sinulog Festival is permeating the entire Cebu Metropolis. Yesterday, Marco Polo Plaza Hotel celebrated the Sinulog in its own way complete with a very special exhibit of the rare Sto. Niño collection of our good friend Val Sandiego, dubbed the Compañeros de Juego del Sto. Niño at the Marco Polo Plaza lobby. This exhibit will run until Monday.

Marco Polo Plaza proudly is also the only major Hotel in Metro Cebu that is giving its guests a culinary feast dubbed the “Cebuano Heritage Cuisine.” Old Cebuano dishes will be available to all guests and visitors. Of course, the chefs of Marco Polo were given a boost in Cebuano cuisine under the tutelage of Mrs. Jessica Avila (hmmm her name sounds familiar) and Cebu media were given a first taste of the cuisine that old Cebuanos used to savor.