Philippines’ AirAsia Re-Aligns Flight Sked

Manila Bulletin
October 23, 2012

CLARK, Pampanga – In a move to rationalize and consolidate operations brought about by volatile oil prices and the growing demand for foreign tourism, Philippines’ AirAsia today announced that it is re-aligning flights from Clark International Airport with two new flights to Singapore and Taipei on December and rationalizing flight frequencies to its domestic destinations.

“With our two new international routes, we would like to draw in-bound tourist to the country and help contribute to tourism dollar revenues,” AirAsia Inc. CEO Maan Hontiveros said.

Since DOT’s “it’s more fun” campaign was launched in January, the Philippines has been attracting foreign tourist with South Korea, United States, Japan, China, and Taiwan as the country’s top visitors. Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. has said that a total of 2,143,506 million foreign visitors came to the country from January to June this year or 11.68 percent higher compared to last year’s 1,919,400 visitors.

“We need to build up routes within an infrastructure that supports low-fare services since we are in an industry that is not immune to rising fuel cost and operational challenges. We intend to open up new international routes within these markets, as well as add frequencies on existing routes, thanks to the aggressive campaign of DOT in promoting the country abroad,” Hontiveros added.

Starting 1st December, AirAsia will fly to Singapore and to Taipei on December 15. It will also add frequencies to Hong Kong while rationalizing flights to Davao and Kalibo, and suspending services to Puerto Princesa and Macau.

Guests who are affected by the changes will be offered three options: a full refund of their flight bookings or a credit shell of the value of their flight bookings which is valid for 3 months or an option to change their flight date without any costs, subject to availability. An email will also be sent to the affected guests’ registered member email account where they are able to select their preferred service recovery option. Affected guests will also receive an SMS notification of the flight changes.