MAIDEN FLIGHT. The Royal Air Philippines lands at the Francisco Bangoy International Airport in Davao City on its maiden flight From Cebu to Davao on Monday. Royal Air now flies Cebu-Davao-Cebu foru times a week. (Photo coutesy of PTV-Davao)
DAVAO CITY – Royal Air Philippines has launched its newest flight, the Cebu-Davao-Cebu route on Monday, with optimism it would continue to hit an all-time high load factor of 80 percent.
Eduardo Novillas, Royal Air chief executive officer, said the airline's maiden flight from Cebu with 87 passengers on board was "selling like hotcakes".
Royal Air will fly Cebu-Davao-Cebu four times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays using the 97-seater British Aerospace (BAe) AVRO 146 RJ 100. The airline leaves Cebu at 6:45 a.m. and arrives in Davao at 8:30 a.m. The flight then leaves Davao City at 9:15 a.m.
Novillas said Royal Air chose to fly the Davao route because of the city’s potentials, noting that movements to Davao are high.
“This will be an opportunity for Royal Air,” he said.
Novillas said Royal Air started in 2002 as a cargo shipment air-carrier. It was only in 2018 when it moved to commercial air travel, flying only Clark – Caticlan, then Clark Puerto Princesa and Manila – Cebu.
Royal Air also boasts of its competitive fare rates even with AirAsia, which is a Malaysian low-cost airline. (PNA)
