Cebu-Japan travel demand on the rise

CEBU, Philippines — Air connectivity between Cebu and Japan should further be enhanced as travel demand between the two places continues to increase.

Daisuke Tonai, executive director at the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) preparation office for Manila, said he wants to see additional airlines mounting direct flights from Cebu to Japan.

"Yes the demand is there," he said in a recent interview.

He said there is a need to stimulate demand for travel from Cebu to Japan.

Likewise, he said an increasing number of Japanese are also traveling to Cebu, thus the demand is definitely there.

He hopes other airline companies would consider mounting additional flights between Cebu and Japan.

Currently, local carriers Philippines Airlines (PAL) and Cebu Pacific, and Tokyo-based budget airline Vanilla Air offers direct connections from Cebu to Japan, vice versa.

PAL operates two round-trip flights daily while Cebu Pacific operates four round-trip flights a week.

Late last year, Vanilla Air started offering daily direct round-trip flights from Cebu to Japan through Narita Airport, becoming the first Japanese airline to launch regular non-stop service to central Philippines.

The service would cater to the demand from Japanese travelers seeking refuge in the tropical island’s year-round warm weather or looking to take English classes on short- to medium-term stints.

According to a partial report released by the DOT in Central Visayas, Cebu welcomed close to 1.5 million visitors from January and April 2017, an increase of 4.16 percent from 1.43 million visitors during the same four-month period in 2016.

During the period, Japan came out as the second top tourist market for Central Visayas particularly Cebu.

The region recorded 137,421 arrivals from Japan, and increase of 5.47 percent.

Cebu, with its flagship gateway Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA), has emerged as the major air hub with direct flights abroad and numerous connections to other major destinations in the Visayas and Mindanao.

In recent months, Mactan Airport saw the mounting of more international routes.

Just recently, PAL announced it will be opening a thrice weekly Cebu-Bangkok-Cebu service starting December 2, 2017 amid public demand for direct connections between Cebu and Thailand.

Travelers from Thailand will soon gain a convenient direct link to "The Queen City of the South" and can connect to any of the following domestic destinations PAL flies to from Cebu namely: Bacolod, Busuanga, Butuan, Cagayan, Caticlan, Davao, Camiguin, General Santos, Iloilo, Kalibo, Legaspi, Ozamiz, Puerto Princesa, Siargao and Tacloban.

GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp (GMCAC) had said it seeks to pursue new and diverse routes from Cebu.

For the next two years, the firm is planning to introduce new routes that will connect Cebu to Australia, Europe and other Southeast Asian countries, as well as expand routes to China, Japan and South Korea.

GMCAC took over operations of the Mactan Airport in November 2014 through the consortium between Megawide Construction Corp and its Bangalore-based foreign partner GMR Infrastructure Ltd.

Passenger traffic at MCIA, the country’s second busiest airport, reached 5.17 million from January to June this year, hitting half of the airport's 10 million passenger arrival target for 2017.

Based on official data, Mactan airport's passenger traffic in the first half rose 16 percent to 5.17 million from 4.46 million in the same period last year.

During the six-month period, international passengers grew 40 percent to 1.59 million from 1.14 million last year. While domestic passengers reached 3.58 million, up 8 percent from 3.32 million.

Meanwhile, air traffic volume also saw a 22 percent growth from January to June this year to 43,268 from 35,570 last year. (FREEMAN)