ILOILO AIRPORT. The Iloilo International Airport in the municipality of Cabatuan. Iloilo City Tourism Officer Junel Ann Divinagracia, in an interview on Thursday (Jan. 26, 2023), hoped for more domestic flights coming to and from the international airport. (PNA file photo)
ILOILO CITY –The City Tourism and Development Office (CTDO) here is looking forward to the resumption of domestic flights going to and from the Iloilo International Airport and the proposed reopening of international flights.
“We know that a lot are interested to travel coming here and going to international places like Hong Kong and Singapore. But we also would like to ask for Clark (to Iloilo flights) since we have a lot of conventions and seminars here,” CTDO head Junel Ann Divinagracia said in an interview on Thursday.
She said guests from the National Capital Region and northern Luzon prefer not to pass through Manila to avoid traffic while from Clark airport they can go direct to Iloilo.
Aside from Clark, Divinagracia said they are proposing to Tourism Regional Director Crisanta Rodriguez to have direct flights from Cagayan de Oro and Puerto Princesa in Palawan.
To date, direct flights are from Cebu, Davao, Manila, and General Santos.
Meanwhile, Rodriguez said she was informed that Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines are focusing on their domestic flights.
However, she said they would like to push for the resumption of international flights hopefully second quarter of this year.
All flights at the Iloilo International Airport in Cabatuan were suspended at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
With the loosening of restrictions, domestic flights from selected areas in the country have resumed but none for international.
Before the pandemic, the airport served an average of 56 inbound and outbound domestic and international flights. (PNA)
