Air Asia eyes more flights at DMIA

Air Asia is eyeing more flights between Clark via Jakarta and Bangkok in a bid to expand operations at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) in Pampanga.

Air Asia Chief Executive Officer Tony Fernandez told reporters here that Air Asia planning to expand further their operations at DMIA to attract more tourists in the area as part of their program to lure visitors in the Philippines .

“We are studying to have more flights (Air Asia) at DMIA possibly via Clark-Jakarta and Bangkok , the Air Asia team from Thailand and Indonesia are here to look into these opportunities that would further boost the tourism industry especially in Clark ,” Fernandez said.

“We feel that Clark is the right place for Air Asia,” he added.

Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC) President and CEO Victor Jose I. Luciano also said that Air Asia Berhad has been a supporter and partner for the development of DMIA since 2005.

Luciano said that Air Asia is one of the leading budget air carriers in Malaysia which offers daily flights via Clark-Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu with an average of 14 flights per week.

Luciano met with Fernandez at DMIA last week after attending the stockholders meeting in Manila .

Fernandez also said that he is supporting “Open Skies” for DMIA to open up more opportunities for Filipinos to fly in Clark as well as to attract more tourists to visit Malaysia and the Philippines .

“For me, the Philippines had the largest potential for tourism in the Southeast Asia and Air Asia is committed to support the programs for tourism,” Fernandez said.

Fernandez at the same time was impressed by the developments at DMIA especially the newly built DMIA Expanded Terminal. “I am really impressed by what I have seen at DMIA. Mr. Luciano has really done a good job in Clark .”

He said Air Asia prefers to fly at DMIA because it has reasonable parking rates and other fees.

“DMIA is an ideal place for a low cost terminal and we at Air Asia would love to fly here,” he added.

Other carriers flying out of Clark are Tiger Airways of Singapore via Clark-Singapore, Asiana Airlines via Clark-Incheon in South Korea with connecting flights to the US, Japan and China, Cebu Pacific Air via Clark-Hong Kong, Singapore, Macau and Bangkok. Cebu Pacific also flies domestic via Clark-Cebu while South East Asian Airlines (Seair) via Clark-Caticlan, Spirit of Manila Airlines via Clark-Taiwan and Pacific Filer with chartered flights via Clark-Palau. Rendy Isip