AirAsia adds new China-Kalibo routes
Credit to Author: LISBET K. ESMAEL| Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2019 16:39:34 +0000
AIRASIA Philippines has added three China routes to Kalibo International Airport in Aklan province to help Boracay Island get a boost from Chinese tourists.
In a statement on Friday, the budget airliner identified the routes’ end-points as Macau, Kunming and Chengdu.
The Kalibo-Macau route will start on March 2 with three flights weekly; Kalibo-Chengdu, on January 24 and flying four times a week; and Kalibo-Kunming, on January 25, at three times weekly.
“We are ringing in the new year with additional international flights to Boracay via Kalibo Internaitonal Airport from three new destinations to once again boost tourism in our paradise island,” AirAsia Philippines Chief Executive Officer Dexter Comendador said in the statement.
“China is an important market for leisure and tourism and we are excited to bring them back to Boracay. Direct flights will provide ease and comfort for Chinese tourists while giving local tourism industry a necessary boost after the rehabilitation works that closed the island to all tourists for six months last year,” he added.
The announcement comes as the world-famous island is still working to increase its tourist numbers after reopening on Oct. 26, 2018 after undergoing a government-enforced environmental rehabilitation for six months.
Data from the municipal tourism office of Aklan’s Malay town showed that the number of Chinese travelers to Boracay hit 375,284 in 2017.
More than 970,000 Chinese tourist visited the country in the first three quarters of 2018, the Department of Tourism said, slightly higher than the 968,000 recorded in 2017.
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