New flights seen to boost tourism in Northern Samar

Northern Samar Governor Paul Daza said the introduction of Cebu-Catarman and Catarman-Tacloban flights will be a big boost to the local government's effort to make the province a tourist destination.

Eagle Trans Asia Airways Corp. (ETA Air) is set to launch on February 22 a four times weekly flights that will link Catarman to the regional capital and to the more developed areas in the Visayas.Air travel between Catarman and Cebu and vice versa is only 35 minutes, Daza said. Currently, travelers from Catarman have to go to Tacloban or Manila to get to Cebu via air travel.

Daza said the 20-minute air travel from Catarman to Tacloban is also a welcome development for tourism and business. Land travel between Catarman and Tacloban takes five hours.

The governor said he personally invited ETA Air in the province as part of his thrust to make Northern Samar a business-friendly destination.

"They're done with the feasibility and they like what they saw. We encourage them to start and we will extend all our support to make it easier for them to do business," Daza said.

Part of the province's support is the improvements of Catarman airport to provide office space for ETA Air and intensify promotion of icon destinations in the towns of Biri, San Antonio, Capul, Bobon, and Catarman.

"In our Provincial Development Council meeting, we asked the travel agents in the airlines to do packages to make their operational more successful," Daza said.

For its maiden flight, the airline is offering its service at a promotional rate of P699 for the Catarman-Tacloban route (one-way) and P1,699 for Catarman-Cebu or vice versa, said Luis Jamili, president and CEO of ETA Air earlier said.The airline added that they will operate in the route every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

 ETA Air claimed that their British Aerospace Jetstream 41, which will ply the new routes, are brand new and has ample legroom for all types of passengers. The executive class accommodation will be converted into commercial planes to serve economy fares with its two-by-one arrangement.

 The aircraft will depart from Cebu for Catarman every 8 a.m. and estimated to arrive at 8:35 a.m., and then leave for Tacloban at 9 a.m. From Tacloban, it will leave for Catarman at 9:40 a.m., and from Catarman fly back to Cebu at 10:20 a.m.

Source - sunstar.com.ph