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By Rhick Lars Vladimer Albay
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ILOILO City – Canadian ambassador John Holmes heralded a new era of cooperation between his home country and the Philippines recently, as the product of the two nation’s partnership took to the skies on Aug. 1.
The diplomat has been aiming to firm up ties between the Philippines and Canada since being appointed in September 2016, after the tenure of former ambassador Neil Reeder.
The Canadian envoy singled out the recent collaboration of Quebec-based plane manufacturer Bombardier and Philippine Airlines (PAL), which has produced the first dual-class turboprop aircraft of its kind – the next-generation Bombardier Q400 – which started ferrying both local and foreign travellers between tourists hubs Cebu, Caticlan, and Clark on Aug. 1.
“It’s just so wonderful to see the efforts of my predecessors and my colleagues at the embassy come to fruition here, through a great partnership between PAL and Bombardier,” said ambassador Holmes, during a press conference at Movenpick Hotel in Mactan, Cebu – after the maiden commercial flight of the Bombardier Q400 bound for the Western Visayas and Boracay Island gateway Caticlan.
“Even more promising than this first commercial flight is the strong cooperation and people-to-people contact between Canadians and the Filipino people. Already PAL is the only Philippine airline that flies direct from the Philippines to Canada,” he added.
Ambassador Holmes shared that 20 percent of the employees involved in the assembly and production of the Bombardier Q400 aircrafts were Filipino.
“The achievement highlighted the importance of the Filipino-Canadian community in building these jets. Apparently about 20 percent of the employees who built these aircrafts are of Filipino origin. From the sheet metal mechanics, to the aircraft mechanics, to the structural assemblers – Filipino workers are contributing to the success of Bombardier, PAL and the Canadian and Philippine economies,” said Holmes.
The envoy added that the PAL-Bombardier turnover ceremony held in Toronto, Canada in July was attended by Tobias Enverga Jr., Canada’s first senator of Philippine descent; Canadian Parliament member Michael Levitt; Philippine Ambassador to Canada and Philippine Permanent Representative to International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Petronila Garcia; Philippine Consul-Generals Eric Gerardo Tamayo and Rosalia Prospero; and Mitsui & Co. Ltd. Philippine general manager Noriyuki Moriyama Mitsui.
“We are counting on these people-to-people contacts to strengthen ties between the Philippines and Canada,” concluded ambassador Holmes, citing developments in energy and education as also in the forefront of the two nation’s future collaborations.
MORE FLIGHTS, MORE TOURISTS
The new Bombardier Q400 aircraft is set to fly the route from Mactan International Airport to Caticlan, one of the gateways to Region 6 and just across the strait from world-renowned island destination of Boracay in Malay, Aklan – effectively opening new channels for growth in the number of tourist arrivals in the region.
“We have different segments in the market that show enormous potential. Western Visayas is especially of interest [to us] as a competitive market,” said Philippine Airlines vice president for marketing Ria Domingo during a press briefing in Cebu City.
“Western Visayas is a region with a huge concentration of tourist destinations that lets visitors and foreign tourists experience our culture, our food and the warmth of our people. [So] it’s a definite that we’re seeking to expand in the region,” she added.
PAL Express president Bonifacio Sam adds that the Cebu – Caticlan route is already served daily, and they hope to add another Q400 aircraft by December to increase their everyday capacity.
In the span of the first five months of 2017, the Department of Tourism (DOT) Region VI has recorded 2,020,034 tourist arrivals in the region – well on the way of reaching or even surpassing last year’s 5,193,634 total visitor arrivals, a partial report from the DOT shows.
The numbers have prompted DOT 6 regional director Atty. Helen Catalbas to proudly express that they are confident “Western Visayas will hit its 5.5-million tourist arrivals target for 2017.”
Aklan remains the most visited province – largely due to the island destination Boracay – with 1,160,839 visitors. It is followed by emerging metros Iloilo City (410,061) and Bacolod City (269,232), with developing tourist spots Antique (43,277) and Guimaras (16,715) behind them.
PAL flies its fleet of turboprops to – Basco, Busuanga, Naga, Calbayog, Catarman, Surigao, Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Caticlan, Tacloban, Legazpi, Iloilo, Bacolod, and soon to Zamboanga and Jolo.
A total of 12 next-generation bi-class Bombardier Q400 – with a seating capacity of 86 – will be utilized to expand PAL’s domestic network using operational hubs in Manila, Cebu and Clark./PN
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