XIAMEN Air will be operating twice weekly flights between Davao City and Jinjiang, Fujian, China starting December 18.
The airline will be operating the route every Tuesday and Wednesday. The flight to Davao city will depart Quanzhou at 9:00 a.m. and arrives at 12:15 p.m. here. The flight to Jinjiang departs Davao City at 1:15 p.m. and arrives at 4:30 p.m.
In an online post by Routes Online, an international online company reporting on aviation development, Xiamen Air will operate twice a week with a Boeing 737-800. Xiamen Air is majority-owned by China Southern Airlines.
Davao City Chamber of Commerce vice president John Carlo Tria said in a text message that the direct flight between the Chinese province and Davao City can help improve the tourism sector of Davao City.
Tria added that it will also help strengthen economic trade between the China and Davao.
It can be recalled that Davao City and Jinjiang have been firming up its ties this year.
On November 13, Davao City signed a Sister City Agreement with Jinjiang. The agreement is expected to improve trade and tourism not only for Davao City, but also the rest of Mindanao.
The agreement will also bring in people-to-people exchanges in order to entice promotion of culture and tradition between China and Davao.
The Chinese Consulate also announced earlier that the Ateneo de Davao University and Huaqiao University in Jinjiang will be signing soon an agreement for cultural exchange programs.
Data from the Davao City Tourism Operations Office showed that Chinese are among the top foreign tourists this year. China ranking third on the list with 6,894 tourist arrivals from January to August of this year. United States topped the list with in 14, 359 tourist, followed by Japan with 8,621.