CEBU: Emirates’ inaugural flight to Cebu and Clark in Philippines touched down on Wednesday at Mactan Cebu International Airport, strengthening international connectivity to two of the Philippines’ fastest-growing international hubs.
The airline’s first circular flight operates on Dubai-Cebu-Clark-Dubai route. The flight from Dubai will stop over in Cebu and fly to Clark, and then to Dubai. With the launch of the new flight, Emirates now operates 25 weekly flights form Dubai to Philippines, meeting huge traffic demands especially from more than 600,000 Filipino expatriates living in the UAE.
“The circular flight with rights to two domestic destination is a new trend for Emirates catering to the market demand,” Badr Abbas, Senior Vice President told Gulf News on the sidelines of a press conference held at the Cebu International Airport, the world’s first resort airport.
A Filipino group performs a traditional dance to welcome guests during Emirates' inaugural flight from Dubai to Cebu-Clark on Wednesday in Cebu.
Things to know about Cebu and Clark
The island of Cebu lies in Visayas, one of the three principal geographical divisions of the Philippines. Mactan-Cebu International Airport, located on Cebu’s Mactan Island, is the second-busiest airport in the Philippines, after Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
Cebu is one of the most developed provinces in the Philippines, and continues to evolve as a key hub for furniture-making, business processing services and heavy industry.
With Cebu and the surrounding islands’ rich tourism offering, which includes white sandy beaches and picturesque diving spots, central Visayas attracted a total of 1.6 million foreign tourists last year. Cebu is also an ideal base for exploring the nearby Chocolate Hills of Bohol and idyllic islands such as Boracay.
Miss World Megan Young of the Philippines welcomes guest at the inaugural Emirates flight to Cebu-Clark on Wednesday in Cebu.
Clark is based in Pampanga, a province in the Central Luzon region in the Philippines and a well-known hub for business processing services and tourism.
Pampanga is served by Clark International Airport which is in Clark Freeport Zone, a redevelopment of the former Clark Air Base, previously a United States Air Force base in the Philippines.
Expansion
Abbas said that the airline is expanding its wings in this region by adding more destinations and increasing frequencies on existing routes.
The airline will also launch two more circular routes this year. Emirates will start a flight from Dubai to Yinchuan and Zhengzhou, Mainland China, on May 3, 2016.
Emirates' inaugural flight received not only a a traditional water cannon salute at the tarmac but also a warm welcome from local folk dance group.
This would be followed by another route from Dubai to Yangon, Myanmar and Hanoi, Vietnam, starting August 3, 2016.
A VIP delegation and contingent of international media were aboard the inaugural flight, which carried passengers who had commenced their journeys from nearly 60 cities, ranging from Rio de Janeiro to Stockholm, on Emirates’ global network.
Positive impact
Popular Philippine exports on this route are expected to be perishables such as dairy products, fruits — especially dried mangoes and vegetables, meat, seafood and electronic equipment.
“We are confident that our new service will have a positive impact on the development of tourism and trade in the Philippines’ regional economies. Furthermore, our extensive global network of over 150 destinations will help enhance connectivity for Cebu and Clark, providing more markets for regional products and additional opportunities for inbound tourism,” Abbas told reporters.
He added that the service would also provide more choice for travellers from the Philippines, who will be able to conveniently connect to 39 cities in Europe, 16 in the Middle East as well as a number of destinations across the airline’s extensive network in Africa and South America via one stop in Dubai hub.
Paz C. Radaza, Mayor of the City of Lapu-Lapu in Cebu told Gulf News that direct link between Dubai and Cebu and Clark has not only brought a large number of Filipinos working in the Gulf closer to their homes but will also help improve trade and tourism. “We are working on plans to cater to the influx of tourists from the Gulf and other countries with Halal food restaurants and facilities in hotels,” she said.
More tourists
Andrew Acquaah Harrison, CEO of the Cebu Airport, added that the airport is expanding with a new terminal to be ready by 2017. “Currently, we receive 67 per cent Korean tourists but with the launching of flights by Emirates, we are now open to a new world and are expecting to receive tourists from Middle East in addition to catering to the Filipino community working overseas,” he said.
Emirates flights to Cebu and Clark depart daily from Dubai as EK338 at 02:55 hrs, arriving at Mactan-Cebu International Airport at 15:50 hrs.
The service then departs from Cebu at 17:20 hrs and arrives at Clark International Airport at 18:50 hrs. The return flight departs Clark at 20:20 hrs, arriving at Dubai International Airport at 01:20 hrs the next day.
The flight was given a warm welcome with traditional water cannons salute and a cultural show at the airport after it touched down at 3.50pm local time.
