THE planned direct flight from Japan to Davao and vice versa may hopefully open next year as the Japanese airline is also keen to establish the said route, according to Davao City Councilor Al Ryan Alejandre on Tuesday, May 9.
“As of now, medyo dili pa sila kahatag sa atoa this year kay bago pa nag recover, sixty percent pa lang operations (they cannot give assurance yet because they are also recovering from Covid-19). But they are signifying next year. They are very interested also,” Alejandre said during an interview with the Davao City Disaster Radio.
For now, Alejandre said they are negotiating with local airlines that could also fly the Japan-Davao-Japan route as additional flight options. These could direct Davao to Sennan, Osaka, and Tokyo in Japan.
Meanwhile, Japanese businessmen also expressed their support for the potential connection of Davao and Japan as this would open the opportunity for investments and education.
Businessmen Jun Shimaoka and Keito Ochi said, during their privilege speech at the Davao city council, that this would benefit Japanese individuals wherein they could come to Davao and learn English and attend nursing school.
“Not only bringing Japanese students to Davao City, we like to also bring skilled workers to help train or bring the latest technologies from Japan,” the investors said.
In a previous report, Davao City mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte already conducted initial talks with All Nippon Airways (ANA) in Japan last month to discuss the possibility of opening direct flights but nothing is assured yet. ICM
