|
THE
China Southern Airlines will be flying the
Clark-Guangzhou route twice a week starting January 18,
Fontana
Leisure Park investor Jimei Group announced Monday.
Norman
Ng, Jimei Group managing director in the Philippines,
said in a statement that China Southern Airlines’ Airbus
737-300, with capacity for 136 passengers, will leave
Guangzhou 5 p.m. every Friday and 2 p.m. on Sundays.
Estimated time of departure from Clark is 7:30 p.m. on
Fridays and 4:30 p.m. on Sundays.
Fontana
expects at least 100 additional Chinese guests per week
out of the development.
“We have
finalized an arrangement with China Southern Airlines to
fly to Clark from Guangzhou twice a week. This will
certainly boost our program to make
Clark, Fontana
specifically, to become a tourist destination among the
increasing number of Chinese tourists,” Ng said.
Currently, there are 59 flights a week in and out of
Clark. With China Southern’s twice a week to and from
Guangzhou, there will be a total of 61 flights a week.
Of the 61 flights, 35 are international destinations
(Guangzhou, Korea, Macau, Malaysia and Singapore) while
26 are local destinations (Boracay and Cebu).
A total
of six airlines operate in
Clark—China Southern Airlines, Air Asia, Asiana, Seair, Tiger
Airways and Cebu Pacific.
“We are
very excited about this development. We have worked hard
for this and we hope to be able to sustain these flights
and add more in the near future. This is part of the
overall vision of Jimei chairman Dr. Jack Lam to make
the Philippines a regular destination among Chinese
travelers,” said
Fontana
general manager Tony Biggs.
Jimei is
credited with boosting the tourism industry in Central
Luzon when it invested in Fontana in late 2004. In three
years, it invested about P2 billion in tourism-related
facilities in Fontana.
Jimei
renovated the existing 330 villas, constructed 109 new
villas, a nine-hall convention center with total
capacity of 2,500 pax, a new clubhouse, spa, 400-seating
Chinese restaurant, seven KTV rooms, a new Palms Bar, an
Olympic-size swimming pool and a 36-room hotel.
It is
currently constructing a 36-hole golf course and phase
two of the clubhouse that will house more dining and
shopping facilities. In the pipeline is a 500-room
hotel.
“That is
the reason we are fast-tracking the developments in
Fontana. We need to upgrade the existing [one] and add
more facilities to make this part of the Philippines
attractive to tourists,” added Biggs. |
