CAAP asks Air Juan to open more Eastern Visayas routes

TACLOBAN CITY, March 16  -- The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) has asked Air Juan to expand its operations in Eastern Visayas to link the region to more popular destinations in Luzon and Visayas.

CAAP-Eastern Visayas Area Manager Danilo Abarreta said it is easier to encourage Air Juan to fly to less popular destinations, considering that the domestic airline firm only uses nine-seater Cessna Grand Caravan airplanes capable of landing in shorter runways, even with rough surface.

Airport regulators have been talking to officials of Air Juan Aviation, Inc. to open routes from Cebu to Borongan City, capital of Eastern Samar province, and from Legazpi City in Albay to Ormoc City in the western part of Leyte.

“We want tourists in Mount Mayon in Albay and Caramoan Island to make a side trip to Kalanggaman Island in Leyte through Air Juan’s proposed Legazpi - Ormoc flight,” Abarreta said on Friday.

Kalanggaman is an island in Palompon, Leyte with ivory white sand, crystal clear waters with mixed aqua marine and blue colors. It is recognized as the most amazing sandbar in the Philippines, according to the leading sky travel advisory website Skyscanner.

Other proposed routes are the Panglao, Bohol to Maasin City, Southern Leyte; and Masbate to Ormoc routes.

Last year, Air Juan launched flights from Cebu to Maasin and Naval in Biliran; and from Tagbiliran in Bohol to Maasin.

On Saturday, Air Juan will have its maiden Cebu-Catbalogan flight. It will be followed by the Cebu-Ormoc flight launch on Sunday. Catbalogan City is the capital of Samar province.

Once realized, Air Juan will be the second airline to serve the Cebu-Borongan route. Earlier, Aviation Cadet Development Inc. – Multi-Purpose Cooperative announced that their turboprop-powered “Fokker 50” aircraft will fly from Cebu to Borongan starting April.

The Borongan Airport will open to commercial aircraft after South East Asian Airlines stopped its Manila-Borongan flights in 2008.

Air Juan is a pioneering aviation company in the Philippines that provides fast and hassle-free air transport services to some of the Philippines most beautiful and less-chartered destinations, such as Baler, Balesin, Boracay Island, Busuanga, Coron, Cuyo, Mamburao, Marinduque, Puerto Galera, and Subic.

The company, the first commercial seaplane operator in the Philippines, is a duly-licensed scheduled airline by the CAAP, Civil Aeronautics Board, and also accredited by the Department of Tourism as a Tourist Air Transport provider. (SQM/PNA)