Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas has requested the resumption of direct flights from Iloilo to Singapore and Hong Kong and vice-versa to cater to Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and traveling Ilonggos.

In his letter dated February 28, addressed to Kirk Warren Patricio, airport performance manager of the Ground Operations Department, Treñas said he was prompted to write due to the “influx of requests from overseas Filipino workers and constituents with outbound flights to Singapore and Hong Kong.”

He said their travel needs are unmet due to the “long queues at the immigration and exorbitant travel expenses associated with multiple bookings on connecting flights.”

“While tourism continues to be one of the sectors hit hardest by the Covid-19 pandemic, the economic landscape here in Iloilo City perceives a continuing travel boom to the Asia-Pacific region. It would seemingly show that the demand for travel has not dampened the consumers looking to make up for time lost to the Covid-19 pandemic,” Treñas said.

He added that amid the health crisis, local OFWs have rebounded strongly and have increased the demand for international travel.

International flights from the Iloilo International Airport to Hong Kong and Singapore have been suspended since March 2022 due to the pandemic. On February 27, an airline company informed Treñas that it would resume its domestic flight from Iloilo to Clark on April 21, 2023, allowing tourists from northern Luzon and the National Capital Region to spend summer in Iloilo. (PNA)