Reopening of Davao-Manado air link mulled

DAVAO CITY – A group of stakeholders in the tourism and trade industries, together with the academe and government line agencies from Indonesia and Mindanao, recently convened at the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) here and discussed the revival of the air route that once connected the southern Philippines to North Sulawesi, starting off with a market development strategy for the Davao-Manado route.

In a statement sent to the media here, MinDA said that the multi-stakeholder groups from the two countries had already agreed during the meeting to take more proactive and aggressive steps to re-establish the connectivity of the two BIMP-EAGA (Brunei Darussalam Indonesia Malaysia and the Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area) cities.

“We must package Mindanao based on the needs of our target market from North Sulawesi, while capitalizing on our highvalue offerings such as our medical, education, and tourism sectors,” said Ben Solis, a senior advisor of the Asia Foundation.

He added that the initial step will help determine the most ideal trip schedules based on the market demands from the tourism and business sectors.

The reopening of the air links between Philippines and its EAGA counterparts is among the priorities of MinDA.

MinDA believes that travelers from Mindanao to Palawan heading to any destinations in BIMP-EAGA countries can maximize the travel tax exemption granted by the Philippine government.

“This is a new and more promising approach to establishing the connectivity between Mindanao and North Sulawesi. In the past, we have launched several flights for the same route and have always been challenged in sustaining the passenger traffic,” explained Jonathan Miral, chief of MinDA’s International Relations Division.

Development of tour packages, business matching, trade sessions and student exchange programs must be pursued by two countries to further promote the Davao-Manado route, Miral pointed out.