Budget carrier AirAsia has revived flights from the Clark International Airport, but it did not use its Philippine subsidiary that stopped flights from the gateway in Pampanga province early this year.
The carrier said in a statement that the new service, using the Malaysian carrier’s flagship AirAsia Berhad, would fly four times a week between Clark and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Clark International Airport Corp. president and CEO Emigdio Tanjuatco III said in a statement that the return of Air Asia to Clark was more than welcome.
Clark Airport has struggled in luring large numbers of passengers, and subsequently, major carriers, due to its distance from Metro Manila.
Tanjuatco also hopes that Air Asia Philippines will transfer its operations to Clark Airport.
“We also hope based on the conversations with [AirAsia Philippines CEO] Maan Hontiveros that they are very impressed with the new developments at the airport and that they will try to convince their Manila operations to transfer at Clark,” Tanjuatco said.
“I think this is a positive development for Clark Airport. On our part, we will try to keep them satisfied, make sure that all their concerns are addressed and build a better relationship with Air Asia,” Tanjuatco said.
In the same statement, Hontiveros said “that this is a very good positive development for both Air Asia and Clark Airport.”
“We are very happy as well as the passengers who are excited [about] the return of Clark-Kuala Lumpur flights at Clark Airport and we will continue providing a much better travel for our passengers taking their flights at Clark,” Hontiveros said.
Air Asia Berhad flies four times weekly via Clark-Kuala Lumpur using its Airbus A320 aircraft. More than 100 passengers departed from Clark Airport to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia during the re-launching of the international flights at Clark.
Clark Airport is also host to other air carriers such as Cebu Pacific Air, Asiana Airlines, Jin Air, Dragonair, Seair-International, Tiger Air and Qatar Airways.