Asiana Airlines Cebu-Korea flight commences next week

Asiana Airlines has officially announced to open its first international direct flight from Cebu to South Korea this coming July 16, 2005.

Hyunil Kim, Asiana Airlines general manager-Cebu sales office said the airline will have a four-times-a-week flight frequency from Cebu to South Korea, starting the second week of this month.

Kim said the airline is anticipating the bulk of Korean nationals wanting to make Cebu as their premier vacation destination, primarily because of the beaches and resorts.

"We enjoy what you have here in Cebu that we do not have in Korea, the nice beaches, and resorts" Kim said.

He said the airline is touching base in Cebu for a stronger and longer commitment, saying that once traffic improves they are ready to add more flight frequencies.

Asiana Airlines is the second international airline to open up direct flight in the last three years. In 2003, Qatar Airways opened a direct flight from Cebu to Doha, Qatar, via Singapore.

Cebu has long wanted to invite more international airline companies to open international flight accessibility especially that the province has served as the international gateway in the Visayas and Mindanao.

In an interview with CAB deputy director Carmelo L. Arcilla he said aside from Asiana Airlines, another airline company has been given permit to open flights in Cebu, the Korean Airlines have been granted extra section flights permit for Cebu recently.

Under the air agreement between Philippines and Korea only 17 flights per are allowed, because this number has already been exhausted, Arcilla said CAB has given these two airlines extra section flight entitlements for Cebu.

This means, that both Asiana Airlines, and Korean Airlines can start its plan to offer four times a week, and two times a week direct flight from Cebu to Inchoon, Korea.

Of the two Korean based airline companies, only Asiana Airlines has officially announced the opening of their commercial operations in Cebu.

Once Asiana Airlines starts the four-times a week frequency, Cebu will have three airline companies operating direct flights to Korea, the Philippine Airlines (PAL) and Cebu Pacific (CEB).

CAB said that there are 30 airlines authorized to offer flights from Cebu to mostly international routes. Of the 300,000 available air seats per month, only a little less than 20,000 are being utilized.

Why are these airlines not using their entitlements? Arcilla said it's a question of profitability and business decision.

Cebu has now become not only a vacation get-away hub for Koreans, but it also serve as the center for offshore education sites of Korean nationals thus, the flooding of English learning schools for Koreans in Cebu.