New air routes to boost arrivals from China —DOT

More Chinese tourists are expected to enter the Philippines with the launch of direct charter flights from Palawan and Xiamen next month, the Department of Tourism (DOT) said Monday.

According to the DOT, the Philippines is set to gain from the additional tourists from China with direct charter flights from Xiamen in Fujian, China to Puerto Princesa City in Palawan.

The route will be launched February 10 by Xiamen-based operator C&D Travel Service China, with Philippine Airlines (PAL) as partner carrier.

PAL will use an Airbus A320 for the route, with an estimated 160 dual class seat passenger capacity.

Tourism Undersecretary Benito Bengzon Jr. noted the DOT is currently working on developing routes from Palawan to China.

“Another new route from China that our Route Development Team is working on is the Tianjin-Puerto Princesa—also in time for the Chinese New Year,” he said.

“The development of new routes is in consonance with our National Tourism Development Plan’s strategy to improve air connectivity from major tourist source markets to the Philippines,” Bengzon said.

After South Korea, China was the second-largest source of tourists to the Philippines with 968,447 visitors in 2017. —Jon Viktor Cabuenas/VDS, GMA News