Airline company to open flightsto and from Sipalay, Iloilo, Cebu

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — A local airline company will start operating this month in Sipalay City, Negros Occidental.

Representative Mercedes Alvarez (6th district, Negros Occidental) disclosed that Air Juan will be flying passengers from Cebu and Iloilo to Sipalay City.

The Air Juan is a rural airline servicing small islands with known island tourist destinations in the Philippines, such as Busuanga, Cuyo and Puerto Prinsesa in Palawan, Caticlan in Iloilo, and Cebu, among other prime tourist destination islands.

Alvarez said Air Juan will have flights from Cebu to Sipalay every Wednesday and Sipalay to Cebu on Sunday. There will be flights also from Iloilo to Sipalay on Monday and Sipalay to Iloilo on Thursday.

Sipalay City is known as the “jewel of the south” because of its famous diving sites and white sand beach resorts, among others. Air Juan is accredited by the Department of Tourism (DOT) as a Tourist Air Transport provider.

Mayor Oscar Montilla of Sipalay said they had always been looking forward to having an airline company operating in his city, which is part of the 6th district of Negros Occidental, and he said this has finally come.

Montilla said that, with these flights, he expects an increase in tourist arrivals, because it will now be easy for them to visit the tourist destinations of Sipalay. He also expects a big volume of tourists from Cebu. If they also open in Palawan, tourists may go hopping from one island to another, because of the availability of planes, with Boracay in Caticlan, Siargao and Bohol also near Sipalay.

The airstrip, which is located in a 10-hectare property of the Sipalay City government, has a 1,400-meter runway.

Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. also assured Montilla of provincial government’s support in the concreting of the airstrip runway. “I think the improvement of the south-–Sipalay and Hinobaan town—especially the tourism industry is unstoppable,” he said, announcing also that a big industry is coming to Hinoba-an.

We will also improve these facilities to serve the community so there will be more jobs and activities, Marañon said.

There is also an ongoing construction of an airport in Kabankalan City. Despite the bad publicity, Marañon said, the tourist arrivals in Sipalay City have increased, although not as much as they had been expecting.

Marañon also disclosed that the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office is donating a decompression chamber to the hospital, which will be used by divers, in emergency situations. (FREEMAN)