Negros Occidental, Bacolod execs call for more airlines to fly to Bacolod

BACOLOD CITY — Negros Occidental officials have joined calls for more airlines to ply the Bacolod-Silay Airport-Manila route and back to lower airfare rates.

Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia said a major shareholder and official of a third airline has assured him that they would make the Bacolod-Silay Airport a priority additional destination to help ease the high airfare woes of travelers.

Leonardia said he had asked Rep. Mikee Romero (1-Pacman Party-List), vice chairman of AirAsia Philippines, some time ago for the budget airline to also fly to Negros.

“And I reminded him again recently amid the brewing clamor to bring down airfare rates,” Leonardia said, adding that Romero assured him that he was going to put the Bacolod-Silay Airport among their priority additional routes.

“The bottom line is we should have reasonable airfare for Bacolod,” Leonardia said, stressing that he would do whatever it took to ensure this.

Leonardia said he would wage a similar lobby with the Civil Aviation Authority and other agencies amid claims the entry of additional airlines into the Manila-Bacolod Silay Airport route is also hampered by the lack of aircraft slots at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

Businessman Eduardo Alunan has been lobbying for the entry of a third airline to serve the needs of Negrenses, saying the airfare rates of the two airlines that fly to Bacolod-Silay Airport were excessive.

“This advocacy was borne out of desperation over the predatory rates of Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines,” Alunan said.

But Charo Logarta Lagamon, Cebu Pacific corporate communications director, said they continued to have year-round low fares for all the routes they serve, on top of promotional fares.

“We encourage travelers to plan their travels ahead of time to avail of more fare options. The closer to the travel date a flight is booked, the lower the chances that the lower fare options would still be available,” she said.

“There are at least 10 flights daily between Bacolod and Manila. On top of that, Cebu Pacific mounts direct flights between Bacolod and Cebu, Cagayan de Oro and Davao,” she added.

PAL Manila officials could not be reached for comment as of posting time.

Bacolod Rep. Greg Gasataya said he was also joining the lobby to bring down airfare rates.

“I have been receiving a lot of complaints on the very high airfare in Negros compared to other provinces of similar distance from Manila. There is really a need for another airline to operate in the province to ensure competition and that, hopefully, would lower airfare,” he said.

Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri and Rep. Alfredo Abelardo Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3rd District) on Wednesday said they were pushing for a third airline to ply the Manila to Bacolod-Silay Airport route to help bring down airfare rates.

Zubiri said he would reach out to other airlines to ply the Manila-Negros route with, hopefully, better rates.

Benitez said he had informed the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines of the call for a third airline to ply the Manila-Negros Occidental route. (Editor: Leti Z. Boniol)