Emirates remains bullish on Cebu

CEBU, Philippines — Gulf carrier Emirates remains bullish on its Cebu operations barely two years since it started direct flights from Cebu to Dubai.

In a recent interview, Raymundo Hicarte, Emirates' Cebu airport services manager, said the airline is likewise looking forward to the opening of Terminal 2 of Mactan-Cebu International Airport this June.

"Our operations here remain good," he said.

He noted most of the passengers of its Cebu-Clark-Dubai flight include European travelers, balikbayans and overseas Filipino workers.

He said the airline has continued to see an over 50 percent capacity in the said route.

The Cebu-Clark-Dubai flight has over 400-head capacity, he said.

Hicarte said the Dubai-based carrier may add frequencies to the said route if demand calls for it in the future.

In 2016, Emirates launched this route to provide travelers in and near both Cebu and Clark with convenient and fast connections to destinations in the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the Americas, via Dubai.

The service was seen to enhance the Philippines’ trade links with the rest of the world and boost incoming tourism to Philippines and also expand travel options for Filipinos based in Luzon region and Cebu and offer more flexibility for overseas workers departing Philippines or looking for options to fly home.

In 2017, six new airlines were added to MCIA's route map: Air Juan, Juneyao Air, OK Air, Lucky Air, Sichuan Airlines, and Pan Pacific Airlines, which included six new direct flights to China namely Beijing, Chongqing, Fuzhou, Kunming, Shanghai, and Xian.

MCIA, the country’s second busiest airport, recorded a total of 10.05 million passengers last year, 13.82 percent higher than 2016.

To accommodate increased demand and further penetration into the Chinese market, the second terminal building will enhance the airport's capacity to 12.5 million per annum and is expected to be completed by June 2018.

Meanwhile, Cebu is set to host the 2019 Routes Asia route development forum, seen to strengthen Cebu’s connectivity and positioning as a gateway to the rest of the Philippines as well as a major transfer hub to other countries.

The province has experienced tremendous growth in the information technology, furniture, manufacturing, ship building and business process outsourcing (BPO) industries. Its main edge remains to be tourism, with the resort island destination boasting white sand beaches, adventure and natural attractions combined with metro living and a rich history.

Manila's hosting of Routes Asia 2016 resulted in a remarkable increase in international passenger bi-directional traffic from major tourist source markets to the Philippines, with new routes opened in Manila, Cebu, and Davao both by foreign and local carriers. Hosting the 2019 event will fuel further international market growth

Routes Asia 2019 is taking place on March 10-12 at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino

Routes Asia brings together leading airlines, airports and tourism authorities to discuss air services to, from and within the entire Asia Pacific region.

“Hosting the 2019 event in Cebu will be a great opportunity for us to not only showcase the amazing and beautiful tourist destinations of the island but also the new terminal of Mactan Cebu International Airport, dubbed as the only 'resort airport in Asia', where air passengers can experience the island resort environment while entering and exiting the terminal," Erwin Balane, route development head at the Department of Tourism, earlier said. (FREEMAN)