154 individuals in PAL’s Cebu-Baguio-Cebu inaugural flights
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 led the inaugural flight and were welcomed by Baguio Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong with executives from the Baguio Tourism Council led by Gladys Vergara.
Mayor Magalong described the historic activity as “finally, we are here and finally Loakan is open for commercial flights to help us in our economic recovery in terms of tourist arrival.”
PAL’s PR C5903 took off from Mactan Cebu International Airport at 8:50AM and arrived at the Baguio Loakan Airport in less than two hours.
PAL Chief Operations Officer Capt. Stanley 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 vise 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.
For inquiries contact CAAP Baguio: baguio_airport@caap.gov.ph or visit the official website of the Philippine Airlines at www.philippineairlines.com. – JMPS