CEBU, Philippines — China Airlines commenced its four times a week flight from Mactan Cebu International Airport to Taipei Taoyuan International Airport.
The Taiwan flag carrier made its first arrival to Cebu yesterday, December 1, 2022 carrying 120 passengers who were welcomed by a ceremonial water cannon salute.
Likewise, China Airlines led by Fu Sheng Wang, general manager for Philippine branch, together with officials from Cebu Airport Corporation (GMCAC),
Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA), and Department of Tourism (DOT-7) said a departure formality was also given to passengers departing for Taipei on the same day with a cake-cutting ceremony.
According to Wang, the conceptualization of China Airlines’ entry to Cebu started four years ago, however the implementation was affected by the pandemic.
Now that the borders are slowly opening up, boosted by the high interest of people to travel, Wang expressed confidence of a good two-way traffic, saying Cebu and the rest of Visayas and Mindanao region is considered as big market for China Airlines.
MCIAA General Manager and CEO Julius Neri, Jr. lauded China Airlines’ confidence to connect Cebu and Taiwan, and its recognition of Cebu as a destination and source of tourists.
China Airlines sets to push for more leisure travel demand and grow the Taipei Taoyuan hub as it adds more Southeast Asian destinations in its network.
The direct service to Taipei from MCIA four times a week is scheduled every Monday, Tuesday,Thursday, and Saturday using its Airbus A321neo aircraft with 180 seat capacity and a two-class configuration.
“Through this, we hope to strengthen leisure travel demand during this recovery period, and we are proud to partner with China Airlines in pushing for the growth in traffic that we are working on," noted GMCAC President Louie Ferrer said.
“As China Airlines joins our network with its Cebu to Taipei service and vice versa, we are hopeful in the strong, positive growth at MCIA, most notably in recovery of passenger traffic. We are grateful for the strong support of our airline partners and the entire airport community," added Neri.
With the addition of this new carrier, MCIA now has 13 foreign and 4 Philippine-based airline partners and connecting to 27 domestic destinations and 10 international destinations.