MINDANAO aviation reached another milestone on Tuesday, June 18, as Qatar’s state-owned flag carrier – Qatar Airways – launched its Doha-Davao route, its third gateway in the Philippines following Manila and Clark.
Servicing the route with one frequency per week using its Boeing 787-8 aircraft, Qatar Airways is the fourth international carrier currently serving Davao City after SilkAir (1997), Cathay Dragon (October 2018), and XiamenAir (December 2018).
Business and tourism players in Davao City welcomed this development as it signals more investment and tourism opportunities to Davao City. It also strengthens Davao’s position as an investment and tourism hub in Mindanao.
Mindanao Development Authority Deputy Executive Director Romeo Montenegro said the launch of the air route ushers in enhanced Mindanao connectivity to major global destinations in the Middle East as well as links to Europe.
This was reechoed by Department of Tourism 11 regional director Tanya Rabat-Tan underscoring it will positively impact region's tourism arrivals.
For Davao City, tourism office recorded a total of 2.39 million tourists in 2018, 11 percent of which are foreign tourists. Of the record, 21,324 are American visitors, followed by Japanese (12,800) and Chinese (10,827).
It added there were 8,936 Korean visitors, 7,117 Australians, 6,509 Indians, 5,392 Canadians, 4,985 Singaporeans, 4,287 British, 2,703 Emiratis, 2,449 Malaysians, 2,398 Germans, 2,338 Thais, 2,242 Saudia Arabians, and 1,868 Taiwanese.
While there is enough reason to celebrate the increasing interest of international airlines connecting to Davao, the real challenge remains – sustaining the route.
As more direct routes had been established and many more are currently in the pipeline, may the industry players consider always the lessons we had from the suspended Davao-Kuala Lumpur AirAsia flights.
The route was stopped as it failed to maintain an average of 80 percent load factor per flight, a minimum requirement for airlines to sustain an air route. And we do not want a déjà vu to happen.
One of the reasons considered as a major factor why the route was closed was lack of Halal-friendly establishments in Davao City and inadequate promotions of tourism and business potentials between countries.
With this established, the city, as well as Mindanao, must work double time to create Halal-friendly establishments. Opening a flight can be easy but sustaining it isn't, especially if basic tourism requirements are not secured and met first.
To maintain the route, efforts need to be exerted both by the government and private sector.
On a bigger picture, to continue the momentum of more domestic and international direct flights coming in to Davao City, the Francisco Bangoy International Airport expansion and rehabilitation must also come into realization as soon as possible.
As what World Bank said, air connectivity is an important enabler to achieving economic growth and development.