By Raynald C Rivera
CEBU, The Philipppines: Emirates has further spread its wings in the Philippines launching yesterday its first ever daily circular service from Dubai to Cebu and Clark.
Emirates’ Boeing 777-300ER aircraft flight EK338 landed at Mactan-Cebu International Airport at exactly 3.40pm and was welcomed with a water canon salute, marking the another milestone in Emirates’ foray to the Philippines.
The launch of the new route stengthens international connectivity to two of the Philippines’ fastest growing international hubs and brings Emirates’ number of weekly flights to the Philippines to 25.
“Just yesterday, we added four more flights to Manila and with the launch of daily flights to Cebu and Clark we now operate a total of 25 flights weekly to the Philippines,” Salem Obaidalla, Senior Vice President, Aeropolitical & Industry Affairs, told The Peninsula.
One of the most developed cities in the Philippines, Cebu continues to be a hub for furniture making, business processing service and heavy industry. With Cebu and its surrounding islands’ rich tourism offering, central Visayas attracted a total of 1.6mn foreign tourists last year.
“The launch means Emirates will be able to contribute to the development of tourism and trade in the Philippines’ regional economy. Exports especially in Cebu are widely needed in other parts of the world such as electronics, furniture, integrated circuits, automotive parts, watches and dried mangoes among others,” Badr Abbas, Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations Far East said at a press conference yesterday.
“Furthermore our extensive global network of over 150 destinations will help enhance connectity for both Cebu and Clark providing more choices for travellers, more markets for proucts and more opportunities for inbound tourism. With convenient stop in Dubai, travellers will be able to conveniently connect to 39 cities in Europe, 16 cities in the Middle East and a number of destinations across our intensve network in Africa and South America,” said Abbas.
Additionally, the new route provides more travel options for Filipinos from the Central Luzon and the Visayas region and offer more flexibility for Overseas Filipino Workers departing the Philippines or flying back home. “Connectivity is more crucial than ever. People want to travel and value efficiency and comfort placing airports at the forefront of development. We’re beginning to see our efforts to improve local aviation over the past several years pay off and this direct flight between Cebu and Dubai is one of the benefits that we can reap,” said Josephy Emilio A Abaya, Secretary of the Philippines’ Department of Transportation and Communications.
Abaya noted the launch of the new route makes Emirates the first airline that makes two domestic stops.
Emirates flights to Cebu and Clark departs daily from Dubai as EK338 at 2.55am and arrives at Mactan-Cebu International Airport at 3.50pm. Then, it departs from Cebu at 5.25pm and arrives at Clark International Airport at 6.45pm. The return flight departsat 8.20pm arriving at Dubai International Airport at 1.25am.
The Peninsula
