ROUTE REVIVAL. Turboprop plane LEASCOR RP-C9962 flies to Manado, North Sulawesi in Indonesia on Thursday (Jan. 4, 2024), carrying over 30 passengers from Mindanao for an exploratory business mission aimed at discussing the revival of the Davao-Manado air route. The route, which initially opened in May 2007, was discontinued and revived on Sept. 27, 2019, but was again halted by the pandemic the following year. (Photo from MinDA)
DAVAO CITY – The resumption plan for Davao-Manado air connectivity is being mulled as various stakeholders joined an exploratory business mission to North Sulawesi, Indonesia, on Thursday.
In a statement Friday, the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), which leads the exploratory mission, said that along with Leading Edge Air Services Corporation (LEASCOR), several officers flew to Sulawesi on a Leading Edge 70-seater ATR 72-500 plane to assess the current market conditions and opportunities for reinstating the air route.
The route, which initially opened in May 2007, was discontinued and revived on Sept. 27, 2019 with the maiden flight via Garuda Indonesia Airlines operating on Mondays and Fridays. It was again halted following the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
Assistant Secretary Romeo Montenegro, MinDA deputy executive director, described the mission as a “timely and strategic shared action” to revive the route.
“Davao-Manado has always been viable air connectivity. Hopefully, this time, it will have more interactions, exchanges and mobility between Manado–Davao, and the larger Mindanao and North Sulawesi,” Montenegro said.
During the mission’s Manado stakeholders’ meeting recently, Joji Ilagan-Bian, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry-Mindanao chairperson for Brunei Darussalam–Indonesia–Malaysia–Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA), suggested the reinstatement of the previous Manado–Davao EAGA initiative in pursuit of tourism, trade, education and agribusiness, among others.
“We can look into reviving student internship and exchange programs among our schools, as well as joint hospitality, wellness, and cultural tourism undertakings,” Ilagan-Bian said.
Meanwhile, Manado Mayor Andrei Angouw said lessons from the past unsustainable resumptions of the route should enable key leaders and stakeholders of both cities to develop a concrete and holistic approach.
“We can explore many possibilities, but we must learn from our mistakes this time. Trade and connectivity must go hand in hand so that we can connect businesses and visit each other more frequently,” Angouw said. (PNA)
