QA flights to Clark International Airport boon for Filipinos

Philippine Ambassador Crescente Relacion to join Qatar Airways’ maiden flight to Clark. By Joey Aguilar/Staff ReporterFrom the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Manila, overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Ronald Aure normally spends a minimum of five hours on the road just to reach his home in Bataan province, Philippines.Now, it will only take him less than an hour from the Clark International Airport (CIA), a former US air base, minus the traffic congestions, with the launch of Qatar Airways’ Doha-Clark-Doha flights which will start on Sunday (October 27). For those who live in nearby Mabalacat and Angeles City, home maybe about 30 minutes or less away by car depending on the traffic outside CIA.“There will be no hassles since we have a world-class expressway which connects Clark, Subic and other places in region 3,” said Aure, a member of the Filipino Table Tennis Association-Qatar.Cheaper air fares could also attract many passengers. Rannie Tanchico, one of the committee heads of United Filipino Organisations in Qatar (UFOQ), booked a flight for his December vacation and paid QR2,600 for a two-way promo ticket to Clark. He said the average fare to Manila is about QR4,000.Philippine embassy Labour Attaché Leopoldo De Jesus estimates that out of the 200,000 OFWs in the country, about 30% live in central and northern Luzon, the largest of the three main islands of the Philippines. The remaining were from Manila and other provinces in Visayas and Mindanao.“This is good news for many OFWs in Qatar living in these places because their families need not go to NAIA which often times the traffic is heavy particularly this coming Christmas season,” he told Gulf Times. He added that Clark hosts a variety of restaurants, shopping malls, hotels and other entertainment facilities offering various products and services at reasonable prices.Vice-Consul Kristine Bautista has confirmed that Philippine Ambassador Crescente Relacion will join dozens of OFWs who booked for the maiden flight. The plane will leave Doha International Airport at 7.45pm (Doha time) and will reach CIA at 9.20am (Philippine time). Architect Jhin Tabuzo, chairman of the UFOQ, believes that the Clark flight is timely because of the growing number of OFWs not only in Qatar but in the whole GCC region.He stressed that it will also help lessen the traffic congestion while travelling to and from NAIA in Manila. “It is a big help and very convenient to those in those regions in terms of mobility and travel time.” It is learnt that many Filipino expatriates who regularly fly to Manila would also want to try the Clark flight.“We want to spend at least three days in Clark to have a walking or jogging. From there, we could go to Subic for some Dolphin adventures and Spas, then we go to our home in Manila,” said a newly-wed couple. Emirates Airlines, which also flies to Manila like QA, launched a direct flight to Clark on October 2. Flag carriers such as Philippine Airlines (PAL) and Cebu Pacific are also mulling to fly to Doha.These flights are also expected to boost tourism outside the Philippine capital with the increasing number of tourist and OFW arrivals in the former US Airbase.PAL has earlier announced that it will launch its maiden flight on November 2 but has yet confirm if it will push through. Philippine embassy officials have yet to receive any confirmation from PAL.