Around two years since Davao-Clark flights were suspended, the budget airline Philippine’s AirAsia is gearing up to revive the route, a tourism officer said.
Arwin Lingat, provincial tourism officer of Pampanga, said that AirAsia is working out to offer again the Davao-Clark, Pampanga flights.
“Though it is still up for confirmation, there are plans to revive the flight from Davao-Clark and vice versa,” he said.
He also pointed out that Davao-Clark Pampanga route has a big chance to be revived especially now that AirAsia inked an agreement with Davao tourism industry sector last September 30, 2015 during the recently-concluded 16th National Convention of the Association of Tourism Officers of the Philippines (Atop) in SMX Convention Center, Lanang, Davao City.
Davao City Tourism Operations Officer Lisette Marquez, for her part, said that the signing of agreement with Air Asia for a special arrangement for Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Events or Exhibitions (Mice) participants would mean an easier arrangement with no fee if the ticket holder wants the fare be upgraded or rebooked.
The partnership between the city and Air Asia was signed during the formal launching of Mice Davao Program. The program is aimed to signify the city as a potential Mice destination in the country.
In a report last 2013, budget airline Philippine’s AirAsia announced it will temporarily stop servicing the route starting October 9. The airline said the suspension was made to cushion the impact of losses made by its affiliate Zest Airways following the suspension order imposed by Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap) last August 16, for safety violations.
“The temporary suspension is primarily to manage costs following the recent grounding of Zest Air by Caap. This has affected many factors and allocating necessary resources such as aircraft and crew critical to ensure its recovery,” the airline said.
Among the violations committed by Zest Air, as cited by Caap, were the series of occurrences like fuel overflow that affected several flight operations, refueling with passengers on board, excessive flight duty time of pilots, and failure to present an airman license during ramp inspection.
Air Asia holds around 49 percent share in Zest Air.
Flights from F. Bangoy International Airport, Davao City to Clark International Airport in Clark, Pampanga, is at four times a week.
The airline route was suspended only after over a year of operations.