The Bacolod-Silay Airport is preparing for the first of a series of chartered flights for tourists from South Korea that arrives tomorrow.

This was disclosed by Mecine Reyes, the newly-installed officer-in-charge of the Bacolod Silay Airport, who paid a courtesy call on Gov. Alfredo Maranon Jr. at the Capitol in Bacolod City yesterday.

Marañon said he asked Reyes to keep the airport safe and clean, especially its comfort rooms, and ensure that its employees are smiling which are vital factors to attracting domestic and foreign tourists.

“I told her those who pout should be fired,” he quipped.

Marañon said Reyes was previously assigned at the Caticlan airport that has 52 flights a day, while the Bacolod–Silay Airport only has about 15.

The first of the Zest Air Philippines direct chartered flights from the Incheon International Airport in Seoul, Korea to the Bacolod-Silay Airport that arrives tomorrow will have 170 tourists on board, Reyes said.

The direct flights are scheduled to arrive Wednesdays and Fridays until the end of February.

We hope this will be the start of more direct international flights from other countries to Negros Occidental, the governor said.

Marañon said the provincial government is also set to expropriate the property of the defunct Insular Lumber Co. in Barangay Bacuyangan, Hinoba-an, for an economic zone, but will prioritize the opening of its airstrip to enable small planes carrying tourists to southern Negros to land there.

The tourists are complaining that it takes too long to reach the southern Negros beaches by land from Bacolod, he noted.

With the opening of the Hinoba-an airstrip, small planes carrying tourists from Bacolod, Cebu, Manila and other areas can directly fly to the south, Marañon said.

Meanwhile, Reyes said she assumed her post as OIC of the Bacolod Silay Airport on Monday and has began a clean-up drive.

We will ensure the cleanliness of the airport, she assured, apparently noting numerous complaints in the past.

She said the Department of Transportation and Communication is also installing a radar as part of its upgrading moves at the Bacolod Silay Airport, sometime this year.*CPG

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