HRRAC says Cebu is ready for international arrivals

Qatar Airways resumed its direct flights to and from Cebu starting on July 24.  The international airline will serve passengers thrice a week. | Photos courtesy of GMCAC

CEBU CITY, Philippines — For the accommodation sector in Cebu, it is already high time to accept international arrivals here in order to promote economic recovery.

In a letter dated August 4, 2020, the Hotel, Resort and Restaurant Association of Cebu (HRRAC), Inc., asked the national Interagency Task Force (IATF), other government agencies, and airline companies to review the “benefits” if international flights are directed to the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) instead of being concentrated to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Metro Manila.

HRRAC said  Cebu “in general, is ready to accept arrivals” considering the measures that are already in place at MCIA, particularly the putting up of its own molecular laboratory for the COVID-19 testing of its arriving passengers which is a first among the airports in the country.

READ: MCIA molecular lab for COVID-19 tests up and running

Airport authorities last Saturday, August 1, announced that Qatar Airways had relaunched its direct service from Cebu to Doha, Qatar since July 24. The flight will operate thrice a week — every Sunday, Tuesday, and Friday.

READ: Direct flight from Cebu to Qatar resumes operations

“Considering the efforts and investments made in our Mactan International Airport together with other tourism stakeholders, Cebu, in general, is ready to accept arrivals and [is] committed to support our nearby islands in support of road to recovery,” the HRRAC said.

The group made its statement after having received an advisory from an airline company that all its international flights will already be served at NAIA terminal 2 and that it will no longer divert its flight to Cebu.

“This information affected HRRACI members since we were hoping that Tourism Recovery measures for VIS-MIN will move towards the ‘OPENING OF CEBU,’” HRRAC said.

According to HRRAC, it will also be practical and convenient for repatriated Overseas Filipino Workers, who hail from provinces in the Visayas and Mindanao region, to be flown to Cebu instead of Manila.

“We would like to appeal to your good office to review the benefits of the facilities in flying directly to Cebu that will service the greater VIS-MIN area. Our OFWs, Repatriated Overseas Filipinos from the Visayas and Mindanao, will find it more convenient and practical to fly directly close to their final destination,” HRRAC said.

The group also pointed out that the OFWs who flew to the country through NAIA and Clark International Airport had to be billeted to as far as Subic to Batangas “which implies they will stay longer in hotels and [incur] more transportation cost.”

“These measures will help lessen the government’s expenditure due to shorter stay in the hotel and lower transportation cost,” it added. / dcb