DIRECT flights between Davao City and Japan are targeted to be opened within the year, said Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. president.
During the chamber's 6th General Membership Meeting held Friday, June 29 at Royal Mandaya Hotel, chamber president Arturo M. Milan said they have requested flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) to provide this direct link.
The letter of partnership was signed by most of the Davao chamber members, the Davao City tourism sector, Japanese Chamber of Commerce, and representative of the Japanese community in the city.
The meeting and the signing was held last Wednesday, June 27 at the Davao chamber's office.
"Actually it's a matter of traffic and it's basically a matter of business for PAL...Time is very important," said Milan adding that the meeting last June 27 was conducted in order to cater to the matters of inbound passengers arriving in Davao.
The request was received by PAL Mindanao area manager Vic Suarez. Milan added the petitioners are getting bigger and the chamber is expecting PAL to consider.
Milan suggested the direct link in April, when he noted that there is a good demand for such a route.
"We believe in the viability of the route because there are a lot of Filipinos in Japan as well as Japanese who want to travel to Davao directly without passing anymore either Manila or Cebu. In fact the travel agencies that we talked to really wanted a direct flight from Japan to Davao and vice versa," said Milan earlier.
