Emirates suspends Dubai-Clark flights

Emirates Airlines cancels its flights to Clark International Airport in the Philippines.

By Joey Aguilar/Staff Reporter

Emirates Airlines has announced that it will stop flying to Clark International Airport (CIA) in the Philippines starting May 1.

In a statement sent to Gulf Times, an airline spokesperson said: “Emirates can confirm that it is suspending its daily, non-stop service between Clark International Airport and Dubai from 1st May 2014. The decision was made after a review of the airline’s operations to ensure the best utilisation of its aircraft fleet for its overall business objectives.”

However, Emirates will continue its three daily, non-stop flights between Manila and Dubai and “is taking all necessary steps to accommodate affected passengers on alternate flights.”

Many passengers who are set to fly from Clark in May have expressed disappointment over the cancellation of these daily flights. Reports said they have been diverted to Manila which was apparently too far from their place.

Emirates and Qatar Airways launched daily flights to CIA in Pampanga, which is about 80km north of Manila, in October last year.

More than 600,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) stay in the UAE and many take the Dubai-Manila daily flights, it is learnt.

Philippine Ambassador to Qatar Crescente Relacion earlier disclosed that while most Middle East flights to the Philippines were often full, some airlines wanted to double their frequencies to Manila. However, it is learnt that NAIA was too congested to accept more flights and airport officials offered CIA as an alternative.

Filipino expatriates who prefer landing in Clark are expected to take either Emirates’ Dubai-Manila or a transit to Doha for a direct flight to CIA via a Qatar Airways direct flight.

About 30% of the 200,000 Filipinos in Qatar take the daily Clark flights since many of them live in the northern and central part of the Philippines.

A Philippine labour official told Gulf Times that a team from the Clark International Airport Corp. would visit some GCC countries next month including Qatar and the UAE for its “Middle East exploration”.

CIA, which hosts budget and legacy carriers like AirAsia, Seair-Tiger, Cebu Pacific Air, Jin Air, Asiana Airlines and Dragonair, recorded about 1.4mn passengers in 2012. It was expecting to increase the number to 2mn last year with the entry of the two airlines.

The former US airbase is being eyed as the next premier international gateway of the Philippines since it can accommodate bigger planes such as A-380 and Boeing 787.

National flag carrier Philippine Airlines had announced that it would start flying to Doha from November last year but the launch was cancelled. Philippine embassy officials have yet to receive any confirmation from the airline.

Cebu Pacific Air, which reduced its daily flights to Dubai, has also expressed intention to fly to Doha with a recent visit of its officials in the country last year.