ZAMBOANGA CITY - Airport runway upgrades completed in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi, and Jolo, Sulu, through a U.S.-Philippines partnership has led to the establishment of new commercial flights between those provincial capitals and this city.
Airphil Express will fly a 77-seater Bombardier Q400 along the Zamboanga-Jolo route three times weekly beginning September 11, and along the Zamboanga-Bongao route four times weekly from September 10, with connecting flights to Manila and Davao, according to Maria Java, the airline’s vice president for marketing and media.
Chambers of commerce, together with the two provincial governments, worked with the airline and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), to expedite the establishment of the new flights, which they expect will lead to an increase in trade and other business activity in the Sulu Archipelago.
“Even before the runway was inaugurated, we were pushing to get new air routes set up,” said Robert Tan, president of the Tawi-Tawi Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “We met with Airphil Express officials in Manila to persuade them and to offer the chamber’s support.”
The airport runway upgrades, which were built under a partnership between the Philippine and U.S. governments, were implemented by the Department of Transportation and Communications, the provincial governments of Tawi-Tawi and Sulu, and USAID’s Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM) Program, under the oversight of the Mindanao Development Authority.
The Tawi-Tawi runway was extended by the GEM Program from 1,608 to 1,920 meters, and widened from 18 to 30 meters. The Jolo airport runway was likewise extended by GEM, from 1,200 to 1,845 meters, and widened from 18 to 30 meters. Both are now all-concrete runways.
The improvements, which allow both airports to accommodate larger-bodied aircraft such as Boeing 737s and Airbus 320s, drew the interest of commercial airlines.
“It felt like landing on runways in the U.S, built to the highest standards.” said Captain Patrick Roa, Airphil Express’ chief pilot for safety and security, who flew the evaluation flights in July. “The surface is grooved to ensure safety even during heavy rainfall.”
“The old runways could accommodate only 19-seater planes and were often closed for patch-up repairs,” said Luis Go, president of the Sulu Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “We then had no choice but to travel to Zamboanga by sea, which can be uncomfortable and takes a day.”
“Flying to Zamboanga from Jolo takes twenty minutes, compared with traveling ten hours by inter-island ferry,” said Java, who added that traveling by ferry from Zamboanga to the more distant Bongao took seventeen hours. “We could see the market potential from the number of people going by boat.”
She added that flight cargo from the two island-provinces would likely include high-value fruits and marine products such as live fish, among other commodities.
Businesspeople said that the new flights, are substantially cheaper than those offered by the airline that previously plied the routes with smaller aircraft, would have a big impact on the local economy.
“People can now easily go to Zamboanga, which is the commercial hub of western Mindanao, to order stock and conduct business,” said Go. “Even buyers from Manila and Cebu will be more likely to travel here.”
He added that the air service would also provide Sulu residents with better access to government, medical and banking services on the Mindanao mainland.
At the request of the business community, the provincial governments are covering the cost of the sea transport, via Zamboanga, of the CAAP firetrucks required to initiate the new air links.
“It helps the peace situation when people are engaged in gainful livelihood,” Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan said, when the runway upgrade was completed late last year.
“The Airphil Express flights are boosting confidence all around,” Robert Tan said. “When investors learned of the flights, they asked if a Manila-Bongao link would soon follow.”
“A Chinese investor is proposing a regular six-ton cargo flight from Zamboanga,” Tan added.
He pointed out that his province had a thriving seaweed industry and sites of great natural beauty, with enormous potential for eco-tourism.
USAID-GEM has helped to reduce the Sulu Archipelago’s remoteness and to enhance its capacity for economic growth, through barangay infrastructure projects—such as boat landings, footbridges, seaweed solar dryers, and drainage and water supply construction projects—and larger infrastructure projects such as the two runway upgrades.
The Sulu and Tawi-Tawi chambers have worked with the GEM Program on several projects designed to accelerate economic activity in their areas. Each, for example, has worked with GEM to streamline business licensing procedures.
