Arroyo cousin’s airline launches Baguio, Batanes flights

A local airline, owned by the cousin of outgoing President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, said Thursday it launched regular but pricier flights to two areas not served by most commercial flights in the country. World Citi Colleges (WCC) Aviation Company, using its Sky Pasada brand, would be offering regular flights to Baguio City in Benguet and Basco in Batanes, areas not regularly served by other airliners partly due to extreme weather conditions. “Baguio’s weather conditions are not always favorable. Sometimes they are not conducive for regular flights and much also depends on the capability of the aircraft," Aviation Safety Inspector Christopher Brillantes of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) told GMANews.TV Thursday. Ramon Guico III, president of WCC Aviation, is the mayor-elect of Binalonan town in Pangasinan, whose former mayor was his father, Ramon Guico Jr., who ran but lost in the May 10 senatorial race. The elder Guico and President Arroyo are cousins, and Binalonan is the hometown of Arroyo’s mother, Evangeline Macapagal. In February, the President inaugurated the Aeronautical Highway of the North with Binalonan as its hub. The Civil Aviation Authority, however, said that WCC Aviation still needs to undergo an annual safety assessment audit to determine the airliner’s level of compliance with aviation safety standards. Brillantes, the aviation security inspector, said the company has had “reliable" operations in past years. The Sky Pasada is using the 19-seater LET 410 Turbolet, manufactured by Let Kunovice of the Czech Republic, that WCC Aviation said is capable of operating under extreme climate conditions. WCC Aviation is charging between P1,503 and P3,391 for a one-way ticket to Baguio from Manila, and P3,006 to P6,782 for a round-trip. The 30-minute flight to Baguio would benefit Baguio residents and tourists, who had to take six-hour bus rides to the city, Manila International Airport Authority General Manager Melvin Matibag said. Aside from Baguio and Basco, the company also operates in Caticlan (Aklan), Laoag (Ilocos Norte), Tuguegarao (Cagayan); and Caoayan, Palanan, and Maconacon (Isabela). —VS, GMANews.TV