Local airline carrier secures flight to Middle East; starts first flight in September
By Marie S. Neri

MANILA, Aug. 3 (PNA) — Local carrier Spirit of Manila has secured the permit to fly the Middle East routes starting next month.

Basilio P. Reyes, chairman of Spirit of Manila Airlines, in an interview said the Civil Aeronautic Boards (CAB) has granted them the unused entitlements of the Philippines to Middle East via the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) in Clark, Pampanga.

Reyes said their first flight will be in September and this will cover the Clark-Dubai and Bahrain routes and vice versa.

”We will be flying the Middle East routes in particular Dubai and Bahrain,” he said.

Last Saturday, August 1, 2009, the 147-seat MD83 aircraft was delivered to Spirit of Manila Airlines in Clark Field, Pampanga.

Reyes said they are also expecting the arrival of three more airplanes by October and December for their Macau, Hongkong and Taipei entitlements.

Initially, there will be three weekly flights for their Middle East routes, but Reyes said they expect to increase their frequencies next year with the arrival of their Widebody 747-400 aircraft.

Recruitment companies had been urging the government to provide direct flights to the Middle East for the OFWs leaving the country due to shortage of seats and higher airfare being charged by foreign airline carriers servicing the Middle East routes.

Meanwhile, Reyes said aside from helping the OFWs, the company is likewise helping boost further the country’s economy.

Currently, Spirit of Manila has 135 employees, mostly coming from the province of Pampanga but they expect it to increase in the next two to three years by more than 700 workers with the arrival of their airplanes.

”For each aircraft, we will be hiring 60 employees and as the aircrafts arrive, we expect to add more workers,” Reyes further said.

”We wanted to help bring more jobs to Pampanga and to participate in the enlargement of the [country’s] economy,” he added.(PNA)
LDV/MSN