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Monday, January 17, 2005
New airline eyes GenSan-Iloilo flight
By Edwin G. Espejo
A NEW airline company is reportedly interested in servicing the General Santos-Iloilo route using a 60-seater YS11 turboprop airplane, according to General Santos City Airport manager Nathaniel Nazareno.
Nazareno told Sun.Star last week that representatives of South Phoenix, an airline company owned by former pilots and executives of local aviation companies, met with him late last month to explore the possibility of opening up a flight between the two cities within the year.
South Phoenix is now servicing the Davao-Zamboanga route, flying thrice a week, according to the airport manager.
Although no definite date has been set for its inaugural flight, South Phoenix's Raul Castillo reportedly told Nazareno that the airline company would like to reopen the GES-Iloilo route, which was abandoned by Philippine Airlines in the late '80s.
"I do not know the frequency of their target flight schedules.Maybe they will start at a lower frequency and increase it as the market builds up," Nazareno said in an interview Friday.
He said South Phoenix recognized the need to service the said route because of the increasing number of sea passengers and shipping lines that travel between General Santos and Iloilo.
Majority of the residents in the then undivided South Cotabato, which included General Santos and Sarangani, are migrants from Panay Island.
If the opening of the route pushes through, South Phoenix will be the third airline to service General Santos.
At present, only Philippine Airlines and Air Philippines have a daily flight to and from General Santos.
Philippines Airlines has a direct flight from Manila to General Santos and vice versa using its wide-bodied Airbus 330 and 340 fleet.
Air Philippines also has a daily flight from Manila to Genenral Santos via Cebu and vice versa.
(This page is updated every Monday)
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