China Eastern to fly via Clark starting Oct. 18

• Source: http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/china-eastern-to-fly-via-clark-starting-oct-18/
• Friday, July 14, 2017

By Ashley Manabat

CLARK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT—Beginning October 18, China’s second-largest carrier by passenger numbers will begin flights from Clark to Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport.

This was confirmed by China Eastern Airlines last Thursday as the announcement came on the heels of a successful deal between the Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) and the airline to augment its flight network and use the Clark airport as one of its global hubs.

China Eastern Airlines is a legacy carrier with a strong presence on routes in Asia, North America and Australia and offers first-class and business-class seating, including a frequent-flyer program.

“The great news is that travelers from North and Central Luzon may now fly China Eastern from Clark to Shanghai and easily connect to the US and other major destinations in Europe and Asia and other international routes,” said Alexander Cauguiran, CIAC officer in charge.

The airport logged in a total of 6,205 international and domestic flights with 950,732 passengers for local and foreign routes in 2016.

After President Duterte called for the greater utilization of Clark airport, there has been an increase in flight and passenger traffic.

From January to May Clark airport already registered 632,713 passengers and 4,603 domestic and international flights. Clark currently has 130 international flights and 114 domestic flights weekly. Passenger traffic is projected to reach 1.5 million by end of 2017.

Earlier, a representative of China Eastern said the airline is keen on mounting flights via Clark as it is “encouraged by its marketability and the increasing number of its local destinations”.

“China Eastern also targets mostly business travelers and Chinese-family tourists who wish to visit popular local destinations. The influx of Chinese tourists will boost the local hotel industry and business communities in North and Central Luzon,” Cauguiran said.

The Department of Tourism (DOT) counts China as the third-largest market of Philippine tourism. Around 630,000 Chinese tourists visited the Philippines from January to November 2016, but with warmer ties with Beijing, the DOT expects this number of arrivals to double by the end of 2017.

In addition to expanding its commercial horizons, the construction of CRK’s new terminal-building that can take in 8 million passengers annually is scheduled to be finished by the first quarter of 2020.

The project is spearheaded by Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade and Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) President and CEO Vivencio Dizon.

Cauguiran said negotiations for direct flights from Clark to the US, Japan, Beijing, Kuala Lumpur, Taiwan and Thailand are ongoing.

This developed as business leaders in Pampanga urged airlines to mount additional domestic and international flights at this airport in a bid to lure more tourists to visit the country and at the same time, help ease the congestion in Metro Manila.

“We hope to see more flights at Clark airport especially routes to the US and Europe as CRK offers numerous destinations in the country that are attractive to tourists and investments,” Arni Valdes, president of the Metro Angeles Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc., said at the sidelines during a forum with representatives of CIAC held recently in Angeles City.

MJ Olidan, president of the Hotel and Restaurants Association in Pampanga (HARP), said their group hopes that airlines “will seriously consider adding North America flights via CRK.”

“Hotels and restaurants in Central Luzon are excited with the developments taking place [at CRK] and we hope to entice more passengers from the north [of the Philippines] and to attract more tourists to visit the country via Clark,” Olidan added.

The Alliance of Travel and Tour Agencies of Pampanga (ATTAP) also hopes to see additional CRK-Tacloban flights and the return of the CRK-Kuala Lumpur and CRK-Kota Kinabalu routes.

“Clark’s development and the Manila-Clark railway will mostly benefit the business and tourism sectors and these pose a huge challenge to us to aggressively promote Clark airport and to attract more tourists,” said Gilda Padua, ATTAP’s past president.

Aside from the Philippine Airlines, airlines that mount international and domestic flights at CRK are Cathay Pacific, Cebu Pacific, Emirates, Jin Air, Qatar Airways, Tiger Air, Air Asia, Air Swift, AlphaLand, and Wakay Air.