THE DEPARTMENT of Tourism (DOT) XI intends to lure more airlines to create international flights or enhance existing routes in the Davao Region.
In an interview, DOT XI regional director Tanya Rabat-Tan said they are collaborating with national government agencies and local government units to realize their plan in connecting the region to more routes.
“We have this air connectivity program here in Davao, wherein we wish to collaborate with other agencies and private stakeholders to build more concrete data so we can easily pitch to other airlines hopefully,” Tan said.
Tan said numerous airlines have already shown interest in the region.
“Marami namang mga gusto, they intend and have plans also, we just need to work harder to establish them,” she said.
Currently, the region has Scoot Airlines, which flies directly to Singapore daily, Xiamen Air to China, and Qatar Airways to Doha, which has shifted from once to thrice weekly.
She also emphasized strengthening the existing routes, particularly the Singapore market, by discussing service to other travel agents, among others.
“We really want to entice more, build on the Singapore market because we have daily flights already. And we are also studying the Singapore market so that we’ll know how we can better prepare our private stakeholders and our facilities here to cater to the Singaporean market,” she added.
To date, Davao Region garnered a total of 19, 112, 040 for international flights, a 94% of the 2019 pre-pandemic numbers which have resumed operations, and 36, 433, 138 for domestic flights, which is a 99% recovery rate from 2019.
