| Written by Philip James Tremedal,
on 13-07-2007 14:12
|
Views : 956  |
Favoured : 16 |
Published in : The News, Events |
Tags : Ozamis City, Air Philippines, Misamis Occidental, lanao del norte, parojinog, ramiro, tourism, ATO, dosado |
Ozamis City – Ozamis is back on air again after a decade of no flight at all. During the maiden flight of the first airline company to answer the call of the Ozamis Government, Air Philippines has landed.
With the enthusiasm of the administration of Bagong Ozamisnon, thru the effective local governance of Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog and support from Congresswoman Herminia Ramiro of Misamis Occidental, Ozamis City has rebuild its old airport and resumes its flight map. Named after the late Senator Benigno Aquino, the rebuild Ozamis City Airport receives its first flight from Air Philippines when its maiden flight touches down last Sunday. July 8, 2007. With 105 passengers aboard Boeing 737 aircraft, the maiden trip touch down at 11:20 AM. Sources said that, the first passengers who took the flight from Manila to Ozamis were Ozamis Archbishop Jesus Dosado, Congresswoman Herminia Ramiro, retired General Nilo Jatico, Assistant Chief of the Air Transportation Office (ATO) and Air Philippines CEO Edilberto Medina and the 101 other passengers. It maybe recalled that Ozamis City as the tri-province window of the Northwestern Mindanao region, comprising of Misamis Occidental, Lanao del Norte and Zamboanga del Sur has stop the flight to Cebu after the national carrier Philippine Airlines stopped its operation because of economic reason of the company. In the late 70’s, small aircrafts and PAL BAC 111 and Fokker 50 service the airport because of its short runway. But, three years ago, it has extended from 1.3 kilometers to 1.8 kilometers that can accommodate such huge aircraft like the Boeing 737 of the Air Philippines. That time, commercial viability of the Ozamis route becomes limited. Especially when PAL decided to stop its operation. Passengers from Dipolog, Iligan and Pagadian who used the said route had to take either Dipolog or Cagayan de Oro flight route. Passengers can shrug their shoulders, 3 hours from Dipolog and it takes some four hours to Cagayan de Oro to take a flight for Manila or Cebu. Businessmen who uses the Ozamis route in bringing their stocks of fresh crabs, fishes and shrimps to Manila become costly.{sidebar id=9} But with the local government program to push thru its rebuilding and extension of its runway, Ozamis City Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog is confident that, the city will further prosper to become a potential tourism destination with the flights back. Meantime, Air Philippines Senior Manager for Mindanao, Jack Millares assured Ozamis City that if the passengers load reaches the level achieved by the maiden flight, Air Philippines will continue its services. Air Philippines flight for Manila will be on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Last update : 22-09-2007 15:28
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