THE number of fastcraft trips plying between the cities of Bacolod and Iloilo has been increased as travel demand also rises.

This developed after travel restrictions are now slowly being lifted nationwide.

Frank Carbon, operator of Weesam Express, one of the fastcrafts plying the Bacolod-Iloilo routes, said that by December 1, 2021, they will now have two round-trips daily.

Carbon said trip schedules for Weesam Express are 6:30 a.m. and 1:10 p.m. departing Iloilo City; and 8:10 a.m. and 2:15 p.m. departing Bacolod City.

Meanwhile, OceanJet Fast Ferry Corp. has also increased the number of trips for their Bacolod-Iloilo route.

Based on the schedule posted on its official social media page, OceanJet now has a total of four round trips per day.

Bacolod to Iloilo trip schedules are at 5:45 a.m. except Sunday, 8:50 a.m., 1 p.m., and 4 p.m.

Its Iloilo to Bacolod trips, meanwhile, are at 7:20 a.m. except for Sunday, 11 a.m., 2:30 p.m., and 5:30 p.m.

Other fastcraft operators in Western Visayas have yet to announce their trip schedules.

Previously, they expressed their hesitance to resume operations due to low passenger numbers brought by the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) travel restrictions.

However, Carbon said they are now expecting more passengers to travel in December and are also hoping that both Bacolod City and Iloilo City will be downgraded to Alert Level 1 due to the continued drop in Covid-19 cases in both in these areas.