PASSENGERS can now fly directly from Cebu to Narita, Tokyo, Japan via the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) in Lapu-Lapu City.
A total of 166 passengers boarded the inaugural flight of United Airlines from MCIA to Narita International Airport (NIA) at 9:30 a.m. Monday, Oct. 28, 2024.
The new route, including NIA-to-MCIA flights, will operate daily with seven flights per week, according to Walter Barry Dias, United Airlines’ managing director for Asia-Pacific.
Dias said the new Cebu-Narita flight is the first step in creating a “mini hub” that will serve communities in the Pacific region that do not have access to non-stop flights.
“Cebu has a fantastic airport, and the destination has the right facilities to facilitate international travelers to come to the marketplace,” he said.
“It’s kind of like a giant funnel bringing people into Tokyo and then we can connect them to Cebu, we are confident that this flight will do very well,” he added.
Judy dela Cruz Gabato, director of the Department of Tourism in Central Visayas, attended the ceremony on behalf of Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia-Frasco.
She told reporters how the new service would help the tourism industry in Central Visayas. She said that the region’s tourism contributes to the country’s gross domestic product and helps local companies by bringing in more tourists.
Athanasios Titonis, chief executive officer of MCIA operator Aboitiz GMR Megawide Cebu Airport Corp., said that about 150,000 Japanese nationals visit Cebu annually.
The new route, he said, would boost tourism traffic in the Philippines through Cebu.
Serving as the main gateway to Central Visayas, MCIA is the second-largest airport in the Philippines. / DPC