ANOTHER international direct flight was launched on Friday, September 27 – the Manado, Indonesia – Davao City route.
This time around, it’s a revival flight now serviced by the Indonesia national flag carrier, Garuda Indonesia.
This is a welcome development as this is seen to boost the economic, investment, trade, and tourism activities between two countries.
CEO of Garuda Indonesia, Ari Askhara said this Manado – Davao direct flight is also expected to attract tourists from hubs to explore other leading tourist destinations in both areas and other cities near Manado and Davao.
In the past few years, we have seen the launching of air routes to Doha, Qatar; Jinjiang, China; and Hong Kong. Before these flights, Davao City’s only international connection was Singapore.
These air linkages paved way to new economic and cultural opportunities for Dabawenyos with improved and seamless accessibility.
Looking back, the Davao-Manado was operated in the 90’s by other Indonesian airlines like Bouraq Airlines, Wings Air, and Sriwijaya Air – but it did not last long.
It can also be recalled that Air Asia suspended its flights between Davao City and Kuala Lumpur on August 21, 2018, just less than a year after it started operations in December 2017.
While we uphold Davao City’s improved connectivity, the campaign should not stop in launching flights. Both private and government sectors should work closely and consistently to sustain these flights.
For a flight to be sustained, it should generate enough passengers and cargoes. And to achieve it, all movers and shakers of tourism and business industry must come up with strategies and effective marketing campaigns that will intensively market these routes to Dabawenyos and foreigners.
Above all, the destinations being marketed must first be readied and prepared for tourism and business to ensure these international routes will be sustained in the long run.