By
MIKE BAÑOS
Contributing Editor
THE public and private sector have joined forces to invest in the future of Laguindingan
as an airport hub linking Northern Mindanao to the rest of the island and the
Visayas.
In
a brief ceremony held Friday, October 20, 2017 at Laguindingan Airport, Misamis
Oriental, (IATA: CGY) top executives of the country’s leading airline and chief
executives of the government from the national, regional and local level
launched the facility as the 7th Regional Hub of Cebu Pacific Air
(PSE: CEB).
“Despite
the current situation in Marawi City, Cebu Pacific has seen the promise of what
Mindanao can be, and can become in the coming years,” said Pres. Rodrigo
Duterte.
“Laguindingan
serves thousands of passengers daily and is integral to economic activity in
the Cagayan-Iligan Corridor,” noted Marvin Cui, Director, CEB Standards and
Compliance for Airport Services. “Earlier we launched two new flights to and
from CGY: Cagayan de Oro to Caticlan, and Cagayan de Oro to Dumaguete. CEB is
flying from Cagayan de Oro to Boracay and Dumaguete three times a week.”
“Starting
today, the entire Cebu Pacific network will have nine direct connections to and
from Cagayan. Manila, Bacolod, Davao, Zamboanga, Cebu, Iloilo, Tagbilaran, and
starting today, Caticlan and Dumaguete,” Cui said.
“As
the leading airline, Cebu Pacific has been operating here since 1996 and needs
to further expand by pushing for inter-island connectivity around the
Philippines, and in connecting more islands from Mindanao to Visayas, and to
the rest of the archipelago, “he added.
“Laguindingan
is the gateway to Northern Mindanao. When we started in 1996, actually Cagayan
de Oro was our 4th destination, and today it’s still our 4th
largest destination,” said Lance Gokongwei, President and Chief Executive
Officer of Cebu Pacific. “We now have 146 weekly flights out of Laguindingan to
nine destinations in the Philippines and we want to promote tourism and
business in a region that deserves more attention and access.”
“That’s
our mission to create access for all Filipinos not only to Metro Manila but to
all other cities. With the help of Cebu Pacific many destinations are being
discovered and we hope such destinations in Northern Mindanao will be
discovered and we’ll do our own little part of make that possible,” he added.
In for the Long
Term
“It’s
actually quite timely if we need to develop the hub and location wise,
geographically it’s also a good central location to connect to the other
islands in the Visayas and Mindanao,” said Candice Iyog, CEB Vice President,
Marketing and Distribution, in the sidelines of the event.
“When
we enter a market the intention is always to do long-term. Because the time,
the effort to actually set up a hub operationally, resource wise, is the same
whether it’s a short term or a long term. So when we come into a market it’s
really with the full intention of developing it and growing it,” she added.
Public-Private
Partnership
“We
always view the government as our partners. We work closely with the Dept. of
Transportation (DOTr) and its associate agencies the Civil Aeronautics Board
(CAB) in making sure that all processes and infrastructure are in place, and we
work closely with the Department of Tourism (DOT) in promoting destinations in
our place,” Gokongwei noted.
“We
are also very supportive of the government’s moves to really Build, Build,
Build program because that’s what we really need, more infrastructure if the
aviation industry’s gonna grow, certainly we need more and better airports,” he
added.
Engr. Jose G. Budiongan,
airport/area manager for CAAP Area X, said Laguindingan airport is now gearing
for the increased passenger traffic by opening another gate in addition to the
existing two. An additional passenger lounge capable of seating 100 additional
departing passengers is also in the works.
Besides
Pres. Duterte, among the national government luminaries who graced the event
were DOTr Sec. Arthur Tugade, DOTr Usec. for Aviation Capt. Skee Tamayo, DOT
Asec. Ricky Alegre; DTI Asec. Art Boncato, and Capt Jim Sydiongco, CAAP Director-General.
Regional
officials were led by Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza,
Mindanao Development Authority Sec. Abul Khayr Alonto, Phividec Industrial
Authority CEO and Administrator Franklin Quijano, and Rep. Juliette Uy, 2nd
District, Misamis Oriental.
Local
chief executives were led by host Laguindingan Municipal Mayor Diosdado
Obsioma,
Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Oscar M. Moreno, and
Misamis Oriental Gov. Yevgeny Vincente Emano.
Besides
Gokongwei, Iyog and Cui, other top CEB Executives present were Alexander G.
Lao, President & CEO of Cebgo; Alex
B. Reyes, Vice President, Cargo Division; Michael Ivan Shau, Vice President,
Airport Services; and Atty JR Mantaring, Vice President, Corporate Affairs.
International
flights
Asked
about the proximity of international flights landing in Laguindingan Airport,
Gokongwei replied: “I think international flights are something we should look
at in the next two years because generally if a hub already has many domestic
connections, that means there’s enough support as possibly an international
destination, and that’s something we’ll seriously consider.”
“We
are considering opening flights to the Brunei
Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia- Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-Eaga) maybe in the future, as
preparations improve for airports and all that, we will probably start flights
of our international airports from Davao and Cagayan de Oro and the like from
Mindanao to the Indonesian islands, like Sandakan, like Malaysia,” he added.
Cebu Pacific
Mission
In
his brief talk during the launching program, Gokongwei disclosed how a letter
addressed to him epitomized the mission of Cebu Pacific to serve EveryJuan.
He said Apple Uy of Cagayan de Oro wrote him a
letter asking him last June as a parent to another parent, if Cebu Pacific
would consider opening a direct flight to Dumaguete from Laguindingan so she
and her daughter could see each other more frequently.
“I
thanked her for the letter and told her we would look into it. Four months
later, we announced the direct Cagayan de Oro to Dumaguete service, the main
flight of which was being sent off this afternoon,” Gokongwei said.
“It’s
circumstances like the Uy family’s that give meaning to what Cebu Pacific does.
It adds them to the islands we connect, and the low fares we offer. Today, with direct flights to Dumaguete and
Caticlan, Cagayan de Oro has become one of our hubs in the Philippines,” he
explained. “From this hub, passengers in Cebu Pacific flights can now fly
direct to nine Philippine destinations and beyond.”
“With
this as a hub, a tourist from Boracay can now easily explore this region’s
diverse natural attractions. Small businesses can flourish with additional
cargo options, and seat sales enable families and couples to visit their loved
ones more,” Gokongwei noted.
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| President Rodrigo Duterte, Cebu Pacific Pres & CEO Lance Gokongwei and other luminaries clap after unveling the commemorative marker. (Photo courtesy of Charo L. Lagamon) |
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