| By NANETTE L. GUADALQUIVER |

BACOLOD CITY – Zest Airways will commence its international flights from Negros Occidental past midnight Saturday with Incheon, South Korea as its first destination.

Based on the airline’s flight schedule released on January 5, flight Z2 8052 will leave Bacolod-Silay Airport at 12:30 a.m. tomorrow and is expected to arrive in Incheon at 5:30 a.m. The return flight Z2 8053 on the same day, will depart Incheon at 8:30 a.m. and land in Silay City at 11:30 a.m.

Zest Airways, however, said these flights, utilizing Airbus A320, are available only from Jan. 7 to Feb. 25, 2012, twice a week every Wednesday and Saturday.

On Feb. 26, a Sunday, roundtrip flights with the same schedule are also open for bookings.

Silay City Mayor Jose Montelibano said in an interview passengers of the inaugural flight from Incheon are 170 Korean tourists who will come to the province to play golf and explore its other attractions.

He said another airline, which he did not name, is also applying to launch flights from Silay to Singapore and vice versa.

The arrival of the Zest Airways flight from Incheon tomorrow will mark the first international commercial landing in Bacolod-Silay Airport since it started its operations in Jan. 18, 2008.

In Jan. 2, 2009, a chartered plane from Amaty, Kazakhstan also landed at the Bacolod-Silay Airport carrying foreign investors who explored the medical tourism industry in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental.

Although constructed to international standards, the Bacolod-Silay Airport has been categorized as a Principal Class 1 airport by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines. It caters to domestic flights and is also used for jet services.

NEW AIRPORT HEAD

Meanwhile, Ma. Mecine Torres Reyes, newly-designated officer-in-charge of the Bacolod-Silay Airport met with Marañon at the Capitol yesterday to discuss plans and strategies to improve the condition of the airport.

Marañon advised Reyes to maintain a safe, secured, comfortable and clean airport since these are vital factors to attract tourists.

They both agreed to work together for the enhancement and smooth operation of the airport.*