MANILA, Philippines - Starting next month, local budget carrier Cebu Pacific will resume flights to Caticlan, the nearest jump-off point to tourist favorire Boracay island.
This as the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), in a memo dated January 25, allowed the Gokongwei-led airline to take off both ways at the Caticlan airport after an almost 7-month hiatus.
Cebu Pacific said it will gradually reintroduce its Caticlan flights to give pilots more time to be retrained for the said route.
"Cebu Pacific is pursuing this gradual transition to Caticlan to make sure our pilots are properly re-certified to operate the route. In as much as we would like to resume our full Caticlan schedule immediately, our main priority will always be the safety of our passengers," Cebu Pacific vice president for marketing and distribution Candice Iyog said in a statement.
The airline is expecting full Caticlan operations by March 28, with 11 Manila-Caticlan-Manila flights and one Cebu-Caticlan-Cebu flight daily.
"We hope passengers on our March 1 to 27 flights can support us in this transition period. We are very happy we can once again open our Caticlan route to our Boracay-bound passengers," Iyog said.
In July last year, CAAP designated the Caticlan facility as a one-way airport, which means "take-off should be towards the sea, and landing in the opposite direction."
Cebu Pacific and rival airline PAL Express then diverted their Caticlan flights to Kalibo, citing "landing weight limitations" and "changes to operating conditions."
Kalibo airport, which is a bigger facility, is a 2-hour land trip from Caticlan.
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