Cebu Pacific to reroute some flights to Clark

CLARK FREEPORT—Cebu Pacific will reroute four of its domestic flights to the Clark International Airport (CRK) here as the government reserves the Ninoy Aquino International Airport for the arrival of heads of state attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit on Nov. 16-20, an official said.

Cebu Pacific flights to Kalibo in Aklan, Puerto Princesa City in Palawan, Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental and Tagbilaran City in Bohol will be launched from CRK next week using Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft, said Emigdio Tanjuatco III, president and chief executive officer of the Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC).

Tanjuatco said Cebu Pacific managed to reroute flights to those destinations because it has an existing computer system at CRK, owing to its current flights to and from Cebu City. It has ground service crews, food catering and booking and check-in systems at CRK.

Philippine Airlines, he said, needs to set up a system to enable it to shift flights to CRK.

More than 400 commercial flights are expected to be suspended during the flight embargo for the Apec summit.

“We assured the Cebu Pacific management and its passengers that we will extend all necessary assistance to support the rerouted flights,” Tanjuatco said in a statement.

He said CIAC is willing to give incentives on airport fees and charges to Cebu Pacific and other airlines that would transfer operations to CRK to help minimize the disruption in the travel plans of passengers who had booked their flights earlier.

Cebu Pacific also flies to Hong Kong, Macau and Singapore via Clark.

Regular flights by Qatar Airways heads to Doha, Cathay Pacific-Dragonair to Hong Kong, Asiana to Incheon in South Korea, Jin Air to Incheon and Busan also in South Korea, Tiger Air to Singapore and AirAsia to Kuala Lumpur. Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon