On November 17, 2019 Cebu Pacific inaugurated its direct flights to Hong Kong and Clark from Puerto Princesa International Airport.
Mr. Alex Reyes, Vice President – Commercial Cebu Pacific said Palaweños will now have an alternative to fly to Central Luzon as the flight route gives easier access to Tarlac, Subic and Baguio via Clark and as the growing travel demand between Hong Kong and Philippines people can now directly fly from Puerto Princesa to Hong Kong and vice versa.
The inauguration also marked another milestone for Cebu Pacific as it connects Puerto Princesa to the closest global aviation hub giving positive impact for commerce and travel.
“On top of that, there are about 180,000 Filipinos working in Hong Kong. It’s also the closest global aviation hub, which means that Palaweños now have the option of flying straight to Hong Kong to catch trans-continental flights to Europe or North America,” Reyes said
“A shorter supply chain from the time it is harvested here, ready for consumption pag dating sa Hong Kong, kasi may direct flights na instead na dadaan pa sa any of the other traditional ports,” he added.
Department of Tourism Region IV-B Director Danilo Intong, who was also present at the event, said it will be easy for both tourist and domestic passengers to travel back and forth into Palawan without going back to Cebu or Manila.
“If you’re going to have over direct flight from Hong Kong mas madali sila [tourist] maka exit without going to Cebu or Manila, kasi ang problema ng mga tourista kasi lagi silang nag cocomplaine sakin yung hassle yung via Manila or Cebu so why not offer something seamless travel or direct travel so it’s not only for our tourist but also for our people,” Intong said.
He also mentioned about the plan of having a direct flights from Kota Kinabalu and Busan.
“I already sat down with Cebu Pacific in 2017 planning with them how really going to Kota Kinabalu, in fact in 2018 and early part of this year nakikipag seat down kame sa counter parts natin sa Kota Kinabalu and Labuan, Malaysia so then we can release a good connectivity now most of our establishments and our accommodation facilities would be trade along Muslim friendly strategies…Hopefully in the future will be adding Puerto Princesa to Busan, probably Puerto Princesa to Kota Kinabalu,” he added.
Cebu Pacific is the first airline to fly directly from Puerto Princesa to Hong Kong with four times a week flight schedule Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday and daily flights for Puerto Princesa to Clark flight. Also last October 27, 2019 Cebu Pacific launched a twice a daily flight from Cebu to Busuanga and vice versa, operated by Cebu Pacific through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Cebgo.
