Tuesday, October 03, 2006 Chartered flights from Shanghai arrive at Pampanga airport By Dante M. Fabian
CLARK ECOZONE -- The first of three chartered flights of the Shanghai Airlines scheduled to arrive here landed at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) Monday afternoon, unloading 227 passengers from the Chinese mainland.
The first Shanghai Airlines flight arrived in DMIA at around 1:30 p.m. Shanghai Airlines officials said there are nearly 40 million Chinese tourists traveling each year and they are considering tapping the tourism area of Clark ecozone, taking into consideration the ?hospitality? of Filipinos.
Earlier, the Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC) announced that three chartered flights of Chinese tourists are scheduled to arrive at the DMIA this month.
CIAC president and CEO Victor Jose Luciano said the two other charter flights of Shanghai Airlines are expected to arrive in DMIA on October 6 and 27.
“This will be the first time that charter flights will arrive from mainland China,” said Luciano. “The arrival of more charter flights and budget airlines are good indications. We are expecting more low cost carriers to utilize DMIA in a bid to spur economic growth,” he added.
Shanghai Airlines officials have also indicated plans to start using DMIA as a permanent entry point to the Philippines in the future as CIAC undertakes the improvement of the existing Terminal 1.
Xie Jin Yi, Shanghai Airlines Co. Ltd. general manager and operations control center manager, earlier noted “a very bright future” in DMIA. Xie along with Ding Xingguo met with CIAC officials led by EVP/COO Alexander Cauguiran and Executive Assistant to the President Ritchie Nacpil last month.
Shanghai Airlines’s hub of operations is based at the Shanghai-Pudong International Airport, which is located in the eastern part of Pudong District in Shanghai, China.
Established in 1985, Shanghai Airlines has a fleet of over 100 airplanes and is the first commercial airline other than the airline operation division of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).
Using a fleet of airplanes including Boeing 707s, 757s, 767s and 737s, Shanghai Airlines has flown to over 150 domestic, regional and international routes by the end of December 2005.
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