By Cristina Arzadon, Inquirer Northern Luzon, Paolo Montecillo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Direct flights from Hong Kong to this city have been canceled “indefinitely†beginning Thursday, a fallout from the bloody Aug. 23 hostage-taking at Luneta Park in Manila that left eight Hong Kong tourists dead.
Ronal Estabillo, manager of Laoag International Airport, said he received a letter this week from executives of Hong Kong Express Flights notifying the airport of the cancellation of the airline’s direct flights to Laoag.
The Hong Kong airline flies in tourists twice a week. About 1,200 Hong Kong tourists visit the city monthly for rest and recreation, said Milagros Gonzales, provincial tourism officer.
Most of the tourists visit Fort Ilocandia to play in the casino there, the tourism office said.
Estabillo said the airline’s letter was silent on the reason for the cancellation. But he said he was aware of a travel ban imposed by Chinese authorities on Tuesday in the aftermath of the bungled rescue attempt of the Chinese hostages.
Estabillo said the last Hong Kong flight to the city that was scheduled to arrive at 5 p.m. on Thursday was expected to fly home the remaining Chinese tourists who arrived here on Sunday.
Flights from Hong Kong take only 45 minutes to reach Laoag International Airport.
Gonzales said she was also told that a scheduled flight from Kaoshiung, Taiwan, to this city also faced cancellation. Around 200 Taiwanese tourists visit the city each month to play in the casino or play golf.
Authorities here are unaware if Taiwan had issued any travel ban or travel advisory as a result of the deadly Manila bus hijacking.
“We hope to bring back these tourists in the coming days when the anguish over the tragedy has died down. … [But] we were informed that all bookings in two major hotels in the city have been canceled since Tuesday,†Gonzales said.
More cancellations
In Manila, the country’s tourism sector has started to feel the effects of Monday’s Luneta hostage-taking, with local airlines and hotels reporting a wave of flight and booking cancellations just days after the tragedy.
The country’s flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) said 558 people from Hong Kong and other parts of China who were booked to travel to the Philippines in the next 30 days have canceled their flights to Manila and other tourist destinations in the country.
At the same time, Gokongwei-led Cebu Pacific reported rebooking and cancellation requests from about 2 percent of the company’s passengers to Hong Kong.
PAL president Jaime J. Bautista said the company had been swamped by calls from potential passengers cancelling flights to the country amid security concerns following Monday’s hostage crisis.
“About 90 groups of tourists have canceled flights to the Philippines from Hong Kong and other parts of China,†Bautista said. The groups are the equivalent of about 558 tourists. Many of the PAL passengers were headed to Kalibo, the gateway to the island paradise of Boracay.
“Hong Kong is a very important route for PAL,†Bautista said. But he said so far, only flights from China have been affected by the cancellations.
“PAL is beginning to feel the initial impact of a Hong Kong government advisory warning its residents to refrain from all travel to the Philippines,†he said.
Worst-case scenario
The worst-case scenario for the company, he said, will be the reduction of flights to Hong Kong.
About 6 percent of PAL’s revenues come from its operations to Hong Kong. PAL flies to Hong Kong five times a day. The airline also flies to Macau, Shanghai, Xiamen and Beijing.
For its part, budget carrier Cebu Pacific said several of its passengers from Hong Kong had also asked to have their flights either rebooked or canceled.
“As of Aug. 26, we have received rebooking and cancel requests from less than 2 percent of the total number of passengers for the airline’s Hong Kong routes,†the company said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Travel Agencies
Association (PTAA) said eight hotels and seven resorts had reported requests for cancellations by tourists from Hong Kong and other parts of China.
This amounts to about 300 rooms in popular tourist destinations like Bohol, Palawan, Boracay, Cebu and Manila, the PTAA said.
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