Cool wind and cultural performances greeted 84 passengers of the Philippine Airlines’ inaugural commercial flight from Cebu Mactan International Airport arriving at the Baguio Loakan Airport at 10:29AM, today.
Cebu City Mayor Atty. Michael L. Rama, DOT Undersecretary Mae Elaine T. Bathan and PAL executives headed by its president and operations officer Capt. Stanly Ng and PAL Express officer-in-charge Rhabee Vincent Ang, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) Director-General Manuel Antonio Tamao led the inaugural flight and welcomed by city officials and local tourism industry stakeholders.
PAL’s PR 2230 took off Mactan Cebu International Airport at 8:50AM and arrived at the Baguio Laoakan Airport in less than two hours.
Ng said he was happy and proud to have landed at the Loakan Airport for the first ever Cebu-Baguio flight in Philippine history marking the official reopening of commercial flights at the Loakan Airport.
“This is a result of years of planning and is a historic event for PAL. In 1941, the first flight from Manila to Baguio took off serviced by PAL and making history in technological innovation,” Ng said.
He said the Baguio-Cebu service flight will serve as a direct connectivity between Northern Luzon and the Visayas to spur economic activity, easy access for businessmen, tourists and residents.
For the Baguio-Cebu trip, 70 passengers were sent-off with a cultural performance rendered by the Loakan Dance Community at 11:10 AM and expected to arrive at Mactan Cebu Airport by 1:00PM.
PAL will be using Q-400 bombardier aircraft with 85 seating capacity and four scheduled flights per week for the Baguio-Cebu and vice versa flights as follows:
- PR 2230 Cebu-Baguio – every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday
– departing Mactan Cebu at 08:50 AM, arriving at Baguio Loakan Airport at 10:50 AM
- PR 2231 Baguio-Cebu – every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday
– departing at Baguio at 11:10 AM, arriving in Cebu at 01:00 PM.
The pioneer PAL service marks the first direct flight from Baguio to Visayas, and also connects travelers from Baguio to cities in the different parts of the country via PaL’s route network from its Cebu hub gateway.
“Tourist travel is making come back and Philippine Air Lines supports the economic recovery through our band-new Cebu-Baguio service. We thank all our partners and the travel community for the support in making this momentous event possible, PAL vice president for sales Bud Britanico stated.
The Cebu-Baguio service is the latest addition to the flag carrier’s Cebu hub, a network of domestic flights connecting Cebu to various cities in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
The said flights are operated with De Havilland Dash 8 series 400 next generation aircraft, a high-performance turboprop offering faster speed and jet-like comfort in a quieter cabin.
