SPECIAL REPORT

2nd of Three Parts

Cebu Pacific's flight 5J243 which took off from Hong Kong in the wee hours of November 9 was barely full. Yet when it touched down on the Iloilo International Airport two hours and 25 minutes later, those on board it and those waiting at the airport all considered it a huge success.

The flight, for one, was historic. It was the first international flight to have completed a round trip voyage from what used to be a mere local airport. And for Noel Servigon, the Philippines Consul General to Hong Kong, the said flight could bring back the glory of Iloilo as a hub for aviation.

"Once upon a time, the first commercial aircraft in the Philippines flew from Iloilo," said Servigon who was among the 59 passengers on board the flight. "I am really confident that this new direct flight from Iloilo to Hong Kong will revive Iloilo as a hub for international aviation," he said.

Servigon explained that unknown to many, INAEC and not Philippine Airlines was the country's first commercial airline and it emanated not from Manila but from Iloilo. "Thus, Iloilo could very well be considered the birthplace of commercial aviation in this part of the world," he stressed.

According to the INAEC website (www.inaec.com), it was 1925 when Jose Tinsay, an Ilonggo aviator, first flew the 43-kilometer Guimaras Strait between Iloilo and Bacolod. Seven years later, Don Eugenio H. Lopez, Sr., a sugar and shipping magnate, formally launched INAEC with an operational base in Iloilo.

INAEC's first aircraft, a Stinson Tri-Motor, had its inaugural flight on February 1, 1933 from Iloilo to Manila and regular air services between Manila, Bacolod, Iloilo and Cebu started that same year.

The company later expanded to Zambonga and Davao. With its three-engine aircraft, INAEC advertised its air travels as "fast, commodious, elegant and reliant" compared with the other services.

Despite the Great Depression in the US, aviation in the Philippines still boomed with 60 airfields scattered all over the country, four of which were in Manila. INAEC used Grace Park (airfields were then called parks) located near the Bonifacio monument in Caloocan City, the INAEC website said.

In 1937, INAEC purchased its own seaplane, a Sikorsky S-43 amphibian, the most modern aircraft at that time, which carried 16 passengers. Another feat for INAEC is the introduction of steward service which was the first in the Philippines. INAEC was so successful that, by the end of the decade, it was flying 2,000 passengers a month and in 1941, it began flying to Baguio City.

However, the entire INAEC fleet was destroyed in World War II.

Servigon, who was born and raised in Iloilo, said he would want to see the success of the direct flights to and from Iloilo for the benefit of the province of Iloilo and the entire Western Visayas.

"It all boils down to marketing," he said. "They (Cebu Pacific) just need to market the flights to make them sustainable. There was a time when I was assigned in Indonesia when flights between Manado and Davao were introduced. But those flights were not sustained due to lack of marketing," he said.

This early, Servigon sees enormous promise in Cebu Pacific's Iloilo-Hong Kong flights not only for Ilonggo workers wanting to go home from Hong Kong but for businessmen in Iloilo and Western Visayas wanting to sell their produce in Hong Kong.

"This can open the door to the export of mangoes from Guimaras or even seafood from Roxas City. We all know how time-sensitive these products are and having a direct flight that only takes two hours would surely make these products very attractive to people in Hong Kong," he said.

For Cebu Pacific's part, Candice Iyog, vice president for marketing and distribution, said the airline truly sees huge potential in Iloilo, hence it has chosen Iloilo to be an operational hub.

Aside from Iloilo, Cebu Pacific's other operational hubs in the Philippines include Manila, Cebu, Clark, Kalibo and Davao.

"Whenever Cebu Pacific opens a new route, we grow and stimulate travel with our trademark lowest fares. We believe that these new international routes will open a lot of tourism and business opportunities to and from Iloilo and its surrounding areas, and we couldn't be prouder of our contribution to this regional growth," Iyog said.

In October, the Gokongwei-led airline began direct flights from Iloilo to three more domestic destinations, namely Tacloban, General Santos and Puerto Princesa. Previously, Cebu Pacific only flew from Iloilo to Manila, Cebu, Davao and Cagayan de Oro. (To be continued)