The long wait has been over for travelers from this northwestern part of Leyte going to Cebu, following the opening of daily flights.
The 35-minute Cebu-Ormoc-Cebu flight had its inaugural flight on Saturday and carried 54 passengers from Ormoc City.
ATR-72-500 aircraft of Cebu Pacific arrived in Ormoc at past 8 a.m. from Cebu on its initial trip carrying 31 passengers, including Ormoc Mayor Richard Gomez. Minutes later, it left for Cebu with 54 commuters.
Cebu Pacific’s 72-seater plane serves daily flights with scheduled departure at 8:42 a.m.
This development opens doors towards boosting the city’s economic endeavors and benefits its tourism industry. The city government has been very vocal of the mayor’s vision, making tourism as his priority.
Gracing the opening program were city Vice Mayor Leo Carmelo Locsin Jr., Trina Dacuycuy of the Department of Tourism regional office, Cebu Pacific Vice President for Visayas Alex Reyes, and Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines Eastern Visayas area manager Danilo Abareta.
Abareta said the daily air trip from Ormoc to Cebu is a better and faster alternative.
“The faster delivery of cargo will surely boost the economic activities of the city, including nearby towns,” he added.
Abareta lauded the city council, which vowed to rehabilitate the road access going to the airport and improve the airport parking.
The terminal building is likewise up for improvement for which he encouraged the authorities to expedite.
Locsin, who read the message of Mayor Gomez, said “the city thanked Cebu Pacific for placing trust and confidence in the city wherein part of the vision is to promote tourism.”
The city formed the Philippine National Police Aviation Security Group (AvSegroup) for vital security at the airport.
On its inaugural flight, Cebu Pacific offered promo fare at PHP599, inclusive with PHP500 terminal fee at Ormoc airport.