AirAsia urges Duterte to shorten Boracay closure period

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – The Philippine affiliate of low-cost carrier AirAsia urged President Rodrigo Duterte to shorten the period of Boracay’s closure, with two of its routes heavily affected by the order.

“We’re doing a last-minute reach-out to the President,” Philippines AirAsia chief executive Dexter Comendador told reporters here Thursday night, April 5.

Weekly, the carrier operates nearly 100 flights to and from Kalibo and Caticlan, the sites of two airports serving Boracay Island. But the country’s world-famous tourist destination some 300 kilometers south of the capital is set to be closed for 6 months beginning April 26.

“Maybe we can ask for two months, as what we were expecting. But it turned out to be 6 months, which was almost planned to stretch for one year,” Comendador said in Filipino.

The carrier had earlier said it would offset potential losses during the shutdown by mounting more flights to other destinations, including Bohol, Palawan, Cebu, Davao, and Iloilo.

Following President Duterte’s announcement, AirAsia Berhad, the parent company, offered rebooking or refund options to passengers who had bought flights to and from Kalibo and Caticlan.

Among those flights hit by the closure is the Z2 28/29 flight between Kalibo and Pudong in Shanghai, China. The route is one of the carrier’s important service, with China as their “largest market,” said Comendador.

The official also pointed out the timing of the closure – it will cover China’s annual Golden Week, when a sizable part of China’s population travel. In 2017, China observed the first day of Golden Week on October 1, according to a Quartz report.

Comendador said things aren’t too late yet for the carrier, as he bared Thursday that they would be discussing the matter with the Department of Tourism, including the Departments of Environment and Natural Resources, and the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

High-ranking officials of the carrier were here to launch a new addition to their in-flight meal, which sources an ingredient from Malagos Chocolate, a Davao City-based producer of cacao beans which gained recognition in Paris.

They also flew in social media influencers from Malaysia to take part in a familiarization trip across tourist sites in Davao Region, including Unesco world heritage site Mt Hamiguitan.

The plan is to promote the region’s destinations, which the carrier hopes would be chosen as alternatives by passengers who are affected by Boracay’s closure.

Since December 2017, the Davao City has been directly connected to Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, through AirAsia Berhad. – Rappler.com