More flights to Negros Occidental expected, prov’l exec says

Bacolod Silay Airport FACEBOOK PHOTO

BACOLOD CITY––Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson will issue an executive order allowing an increase in regular flights from Manila to the Bacolod-Silay Airport from Nov. 15 to 30.

Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said on Nov. 11 that Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, and Air Asia would initially be allowed to increase their regular flights from two to seven each a week, which would bring down the cost of air travel to the province.

“That means one flight per day for each of the three airlines,” he said.

In addition to the seven regular flights per airline in a week, there will be two additional special flights each for PAL and Cebu Pacific for fully vaccinated individuals at lower fares.

Fully vaccinated individuals will be able to save about P7,000 with lower fare rates and not having to pay for RT-PCR tests, Diaz said.

Airline representatives, in a meeting with the governor and Vice Gov. Jeffrey Ferrer appealed Thursday for permission to increase their flights to meet passenger demand.

“This will bring down airfare to and from Manila that is currently from P7,000 to P9,000 one way. The airline representatives promised the governor that airfare rates will go down,” Diaz said.

Travelers will still be required to avail of an S-PaSS (Safe, Swift, and Smart Passage) to digitally seek approval for travel to Negros Occidental.

Fully vaccinated individuals no longer need to present negative swab test results for COVID-19, unlike those unvaccinated, Diaz said.

“They will only have to present their vaccination cards,” he said.

The governor will meet with the mayors to discuss allowing the provincial government to approve the S-PaSS of travelers returning to their towns and cities to hasten the process.

The S-PaSS approval in the past had been at the city and municipal levels, but in some cases, the process had been slow.

“If the provincial government approves the granting of the S-PaSS, the local government units will just be informed of the incoming passengers headed for their areas,” Diaz said.

“That will shorten the processing time for S-PaSS,” he added.

Diaz said there was also a proposal that those caught with falsified documents would be quarantined and tested for COVID-19 after seven days.

“All incoming passengers will be subjected to the screening process of the Negros Occidental provincial government at the airport regardless of where they are headed,” he said.

lzb