WHAT the economic crisis and swine flu had barely dented in terms of tourist arrivals to the world-famous resort island of Boracay, a quarrel over runway rules and aviation safety might just succeed.

This, as the two major domestic airlines confirmed on Thursday they had scuttled—not just reduced—all flights to Caticlan airport, the quickest way to get to Boracay, and diverted them all to Kalibo, which means passengers must take the 90-minute land trip from Kalibo to Caticlan to get to the resorts.

Both Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific, which suspended all flights to and from Caticlan following changes to airport operating conditions declared by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap) on Wednesday, said they will shoulder the cost of land transfers for previously booked passengers.

That would leave only Southeast Asian Airlines (Seair), whose smaller planes can still comply with the new runway rules, flying directly to and from Caticlan.

ZestAir, one of whose planes overshot the runway on June 25—an incident that triggered the runway rule changes—has since diverted all flights to Kalibo.

Caap, formerly the Air Transport Office, has designated Caticlan as a one-way airport for all carriers, i.e. takeoff should be towards the sea and landing in the opposite direction, on the recommendation of the International Civil Aviation Organization (Icao). A technical redefinition also in effect shortens the runway, despite its actual length, said Cebu Pacific in a statement on Thursday.

“We have therefore decided to divert all Caticlan flights to Kalibo instead and from there bus all our Boracay-bound passengers at no extra cost,” said Cebu Pacific president Lance Gokongwei. This took effect on July 9.

The airline has been operating direct flights to Caticlan since February 29, 2008 and has since then carried over 340,000 passengers. It has mounted as many as 15 roundtrip flights daily to Caticlan until June 25. More than 60,000 booked passengers will be affected by the cancellation.

Total tourism receipts from Boracay for the first semester reached P7.06 billion.

Western Visayas tourism chief Edwin Trompeta said Boracay tourism arrivals had remained “strong” despite the global economic crisis and the A (H1N1) global flu outbreak. Before the A (H1N1) outbreak, DOT projected tourist arrivals in the island to increase by 10 percent to 697,799 from the 2008 arrivals of 634,363. Last year, the island brought in tourism receipts of P11.66 billion.

With these stakes, the airlines hope the runway problems are temporary. Gokongwei said “We continue to work closely with our industry partner, the Caap, to find a speedy resolution, to these airport issues, to allow Cebu Pacific to reinstate flights to Caticlan.

Boracay, he said, “continues to be one of the country’s most important tourism destinations. Cebu Pacific’s low-fare service has been integral to the growth and development of the island’s tourism industry and has increased its accessibility to both local and foreign tourists.”

Also on Thursday, PAL pulled out its Caticlan flights and transferred them to Kalibo. In the meantime, PAL will shoulder the land-transfer expense of passengers who had booked Caticlan flights. But Francisco Yngente, PAL vice president for airport services said the cost of the transfer will already be tucked into the cost of the PAL ticket in future bookings.

Tourism execs unfazed

Tourism officials are putting on a brave face despite the developments. Edwin Trompeta, regional director of the Department of Tourism for Western Visayas, expressed confidence the pullout of the carriers from Caticlan will not affect tourist arrivals in Boracay. “There is no major impact because the number of flights to Kalibo of these airlines are the same number of flights before the Caap measures were imposed.”

He conceded that some passengers may be “inconvenienced” because the land trip from Kalibo to Caticlan takes an hour and half, besides the 15-minute pump boat ride from the Caticlan jetty port to Boracay. “Plus it could add up to the cost of the airfare and their tour package because of the transfers,” he said.

Trompeta said ultimately, the diversion of the flights to Kalibo by these major carriers, “will be good for our visitors because we’re concerned for their safety. These carriers are now using bigger aircraft and considering the length of the runway and it being the habagat (southwest monsoon) season— where winds from the southwest are coming in—we’re a little bit concerned with the safety of the passengers.”

He hopes the Caap measure “could be temporary” until the amihan season (northeast winds) starts in October. The amihan season usually lasts until May or June, allowing planes to use runway 06, which is the approach from the sea. “I think this is a temporary arrangement. But the final decision is with the Caap.” At present, all carriers have been using runway 24.

According to data from the Department of Tourism, tourist arrivals in Boracay in the first half of 2009, grew by 6 percent to 383,313 from the 362,228 registered in the same period in 2008.

Trompeta said the bulk of the tourists continue to be Filipinos, accounting for 71 percent or 271,498 of total arrivals, while foreigners numbered 96,102. Balikbayans or returning Filipinos totaled 16,213.

Of the foreigners, arrivals from Korea were the largest at 34,818 in the six-month period; followed by China at 11,584; Taiwan at 8,074; and Americans at 7,130.