FOLLOWING the launch of its Cebu-Davao flights Monday, May 20, Royal Air is looking into operating the route on a daily basis within two to three months of operations.
Using a 97-seater British Aerospace (BAe) AVRO 146 RJ-100, the Clark-based Royal Air will initially operate the flight four times weekly - Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.
Based on the schedule posted on its website, the plane departs Cebu at 6:45 a.m. and arrives in Davao City at 8:30 a.m. Return flight to Cebu from Davao is at 9:15 a.m. and arrives at 11 a.m.
“By traffic alone and tourism assessment, it appears and it is very obvious that Davao is the next generation [destination]. So we wanted to promote Davao by flying four times a week here,” Eduardo Novillas, Royal Air Philippines chief executive officer, said in an interview during the launch of the Cebu-Davao-Cebu route at the Francisco Bangoy International Airport Monday.
He added, “Maybe in the future, after two to three months. We will make it daily out of Cebu.”
Novillas pointed out that Davao City is a “very good” market adding that they noted a 90 percent load factor for the inaugural flight.
Through the launching of the route, he said they are committed to help the Department of Tourism 11 and the local government unit of Davao in improving the tourism here.
Novillas said they also hope to soon launch flights between Manila and Davao City in the coming months.
At present, their main hubs are in Cebu and Clark, Pampanga. From Clark, they have flights to Caticlan and Puerto Princesa while from Cebu, they have flights to Manila, Davao, Puerto Princesa, Caticlan, and Cagayan de Oro.
Aside from the launching of the Cebu-Davao route, they also launched yesterday their Cebu-Manila, Cebu-Puerto Princesa, and Cebu-Caticlan routes. Today they are launching their Cebu-Cagayan de Oro route.
Boutique airline
Novillas said they have positioned Royal Air as neither a low-cost carrier nor a legacy carrier. Instead, they are positioning the airline as a boutique airline, a middle ground of a low-cost carrier and legacy carrier.
“We are not a low-cost carrier though our fares are competitive. We are also not a legacy airline, [for example] we do not serve full meals but we do give a sandwich and bottle of water to our passengers,” he said.
Novillas said they want to give passengers an alternative option when travelling wherein they can still travel to popular tourist destinations in the country at reasonably priced tickets.
He also said they are targeting mostly millenials who want to travel.
Expansion plans
Aside from the current routes they have, the Royal Air is looking into launching flights to other domestic destinations like Bohol, Dumaguete, and San Vicente.
For international routes, they are looking at launching flights from Clark to Bangkok, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore.
However, for now they are not eyeing international flights out of Davao City but in the future there may be a possible of international flights from here.
“We can find room for Davao. There are other players (foreign airlines) coming in and we would not like to saturate (international flights from Davao). We have to see if there is really traffic,” Novillas said.
Aside from their current fleet of three 97-seater BAe AVRO 146 RJ-100, they are set to accept the delivery of two Airbus 319. The first will be delivered by the end of May while the second will be delivered by June.
Novillas said they hope to start using the planes by July this year.