BACOLOD City – Three airlines began flying anew the Cebu-Bacolod route and vice versa roughly eight months after commercial flights between the neighboring islands were suspended due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
On Tuesday, an advisory from the Bacolod-Silay Airport in Silay City, Negros Occidental showed available sweeper flights for the entire month of December. These are intended for residents, locally stranded individuals and authorized persons outside of residence.
Cebu Pacific has scheduled flights for all five Tuesdays – Dec. 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29.
The Cebu-Bacolod flight is set to leave the Mactan Cebu International Airport at 12:05 p.m. and reach the Bacolod-Silay Airport at 12:55 p.m.
From Bacolod, it will fly back at 1:25 p.m. and land in Cebu at 2:15 p.m.
On Dec. 4, 11, and 18, all Fridays, the Philippine Airlines will fly from Cebu at 11 a.m. and will reach Bacolod at 12 p.m. then leave Bacolod at 12:30 p.m. and reach Cebu at 1:20 p.m.
Meanwhile, Philippines Air Asia will have Wednesday flights on Dec. 16, 23 and 30.
The plane will leave Cebu at 1:45 p.m. and land on the Bacolod-Silay Airport at 2:30 p.m., and fly back to Cebu at 3 p.m. and arrive at 3:45 p.m.
Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said these flights were approved by Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson for “humanitarian considerations.”
He added that the airline companies requested one flight per week for the Bacolod-Cebu route.
Diaz said that for December, Lacson told the three airlines to maintain only two flights each per week, including the Bacolod-Manila route, with a limit of 199 passengers per flight.
Upon the request of front-liners, there will be no flights on Dec. 24 and 25, as well as on Dec. 31, Diaz added. (With PNA/PN)
