A fun flight

Cebu Pacific recently opened its direct flights from Kalibo to Davao to Puerto Princesa City, with Department of Tourism Region 6 director Helen Catalbas and Region 11’s Art Boncato among the honored guests. Also present were Davao City tourism officer Jason Magnaye, and Charito Aranda, the Davao Tourism Operators Association president, and Island Living Channel personnel.

From Manila, I flew to Kalibo on board the airline’s brand-new Airbus A320 aircraft, that will be used for these new routes on the days that will follow. Cebu Pacific vice president for marketing Candice Iyog said that popular tourist destinations Puerto Princesa and Boracay will be within easy reach to Filipinos and tourists in Western Visayas and Davao by the opening of these new routes.

It is the first airline with direct flights from Palawan to both Visayas and Mindanao. Now on its 16th year, the airline has flown over 60 million passengers, with 32 domestic and 19 international destinations.

At the Kalibo International Airport, everyone was in a festive mood. Lucky passengers of this maiden trip won prizes like roundtrip plane tickets. At the tarmac, Ati-Atihan dancers bade everyone a happy and fun flight!

But that was just the beginning. As we touched down the Davao International Airport, it was such a celebration! Dancers clad in colorful native attires greeted everyone as they performed traditional Muslim dances. The group, the Kaliwat Theater Collective, was sent by Davao Mayor Sara Duterte to welcome everyone to Davao. We also witnessed the maiden flight from Davao to Kalibo.

Our Davao adventure was capped by the opening of the Kadayawan Festival and an interview with Duterte. As my crew and I flew back to Manila, we brought with us more than just stories to share with you and the memories we will always cherish.*