GMR-MEGAWIDE Cebu Airport Corp. President Manuel Louie Ferrer (fifth from left) is joined by Transportation Secretary Joseph Abaya (third from left) and Badr Abbas, Emirates’ senior vice president for Commercial Operations – Far East along with Emirates Flight Attendants as the airline company presents their token to GMCAC and DOTC.
The recently concluded inaugural launch of Dubai-based Emirates Airlines last March 30 capped the month-long inaugural launches to four new international destinations out of Mactan-Cebu International Airport, the country’s second largest international gateway.
The daily Cebu-Dubai flights by Emirates marked the airlines’ first-ever daily two-stop, circular service in the Philippines, briefly stopping over at Clark from Cebu, before continuing to Dubai.
The other three flight launches last month included Cebu-Los Angeles by Philippine Airlines (March 15), Cebu-Xiamen by Xiamen Air (March 28), and Cebu-Taipei by EVA Air (March 27).
Last March 30, Emirates’ passenger airplane touched down at MCIA at 3:44pm local time and was greeted with the traditional water canon salute. Among those who took the maiden flight from Dubai to Cebu included top officials from Emirates Airlines led by Badr Abbas, Emirates’ senior vice president for Commercial Operations – Far East, government officials of the United Arab Emirates, foreign media and business group representatives.
In Cebu, the Emirates delegation was greeted by airport stakeholders and officials led by Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya and Manuel Louie Ferrer, president of GMR-MEGAWIDE Cebu Airport Corp., the private company that operates and manages MCIA under a 25-year concession agreement with the government.
“Filipinos living in Visayas and Mindanao who go to the Middle East and Europe will benefit from this new route. Now they can fly directly from Cebu and save the hard-earned money they would usually spend on board, lodging, and transportation if departing from Manila,” Ferrer said during the inaugural program.
He noted that a large number of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), about 35% to 40%, live in the central and southern Philippines but most of them still have to make their way to Manila to catch flights going to their countries of work, incurring additional expenses and eating much time, he added.
On the other hand, Abbas voiced optimism that the circular route can sustain the market between Cebu and Dubai, which offers a mix of OFWs, tourists and business travelers.
“Our extensive global network of over 150 destinations will help enhance connectivity for both Cebu and Clark, providing more choices for travelers, more markets for regional products and more opportunities for inbound tourism,” added Badr Abbas.
Emirates’ Cebu-Dubai route is utilizing two-class configured Boeing 777-300ER that offers 42 seats in Business Class and 386 seats in Economy.
Passengers travelling on Emirates’ Boeing 777-300ER will be able to enjoy the airline’s award-winning ice system with more than 500 channels of on-demand entertainment to choose from, including Filipino movies and music.
Emirates daily flights from Cebu will depart as EK338 at 17:25hrs, arriving at Clark International Airport at 18:45hrs. From Clark, it will make its way to Dubai at 20:20hrs, arriving at Dubai International Airport at 01:25hrs the next day. The return flight will depart Dubai and arrive at MCIA at 18:45hrs.
Earlier, GMCAC commenced the launch of Xiamen Air’s thrice weekly flight between Cebu to Xiamen in the Fujian province of China last March 28 utilizing a Boeing 737 aircraft with a 170-seating capacity. This is MCIA’s first commercial flight to mainland China.
Taiwan-based EVA Airways also inaugurated last March 27 the Cebu-Taipei-Cebu flight where an Airbus 321 aircraft will be operating this route on a daily basis.
Last March 15, the thrice direct flight to Los Angeles from Cebu by PAL marked the first US connection out of MCIA using an Airbus 340 that can accommodate 254 passengers
All these new flights are in line with GMCAC’s bid to increase Cebu’s connectivity to key international destinations.
MCIA is the second busiest airport in the Philippines with the capacity to handle 4.5 million passengers a year and will soon surge to 12.5 million when GMCAC opens a new terminal to be unveiled by June 2018. (END)