A DIRECT flight from Davao City to Singapore had its maiden flight on Wednesday afternoon, December 1.

Davao City Tourism Operations Office (CTOO) Head Generose Tecson told SunStar Davao in a text message that Singapore Airlines’ low-cost subsidiary airline Scoot landed at the Francisco Bangoy International Airport (Davao International Airport) around 2:45 p.m.

In a Facebook post, Scoot's plane was welcomed with a water cannon salute.

Tecson said a total of 102 passengers, a mixture of local residents and those living outside Davao City, were aboard the maiden flight.

The official said Scoot will fly Singapore-Davao-Singapore every Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday arriving in Davao at 2 p.m. and departing for Singapore at 4:05 p.m.

Scoot took over the services of Silk Air

When asked if the passengers will be subjected to a facility-based quarantine, Tecson replied, "depending on where they come from and their vaccination status."

She added that the increase of fully vaccinated individuals is a huge help in allowing the economy to slowly open up, particularly the tourism industry that has been heavily hit by the pandemic.

Prior to the Singapore-Davao flight, the Davao Airport had been catering to repatriation flights, while in late September this year, Philippine Airlines (PAL) started direct commercial flights from Dubai to Davao City flights only.

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio repealed the mandatory submission of a negative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test result to all travelers entering the city effective November 16, 2021. (RGL)