“Cebu, your city will never be the same again with China coming in,” said AirAsia China, North Asia President Kathleen Tan.
AirAsia launched today its daily Cebu-Shanghai flights at the new Terminal 2 of Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA).
“Cebu has a rich culture with amazing beautiful islands which makes it a perfect destination for the Chinese because traveling has become a lifestyle commodity. The Chinese love to travel, dive, eat food, as well as shop,” added Tan.
Air Asia has taken greater heights to ensure best promos for their patrons. Aside from flights to Shanghai, Air Asia has direct flights from Cebu to Shenzhen and Hangzhou.
“Air Asia is officially painting the Cebu Terminal red with the maiden flight to our newest route, Cebu-Shanghai. This airport terminal provides us with great capacity for long term growth and expansion in Cebu as Air Asia’s hub. We now have three planes based here in Cebu. We are excited to add more domestic and international flights to and from Cebu and offer our signature low fares and only the best quality service that every Cebuano passenger truly deserves,” Air Asia CEO for the Philippines Capt. Dexter Comendador.
China is an important market for the Philippines and the industry partners from Mactan Cebu International Airport, the Department of Tourism, and the Diplomatic community of the Chinese Embassy are enjoined to work together to open Cebu to international market, to boost tourism and help provide jobs and business opportunities.
Tan proudly mentioned at the inaugural ceremony, there are 179 Chinese from Shanghai coming in which is about 99% load of its inaugural flight coming to Cebu. And that speaks for a positive response from the market.
China is ranked as one of the biggest among travel markets in the world. They are also into cashless/digital payments and use social media as their must-have channel which AirAsia is proud to offer aside from its low-cost airfares.
Cebu has so much to offer. It is the second biggest city in the Philippines. And in Cebu, Air Asia now operates 41 weekly flights connecting to greater China and that includes Hongkong, and Macau. With the new airport terminal, Cebu can gain more exposure to the Chinese market.
In the video: AirAsia CEO for the Philippines Capt. Dexter Comendador, AirAsia CEO for China Kathleen Tan, Deputy Consul General of China Wu Xiaomin, and Cebu Vice Governor Agnes Magpale gave inspiring messages at the inaugural ceremony.
In the video: Ceremonial Slicing of the Cake with AirAsia CEO for the Philippines Capt. Dexter Comendador, GMR Megawide Cebu Airport Corporation (GMCAC) Chief Commercial Advisor Ravi Saravu, Cebu Vice Governor Agnes Magpale, and AirAsia Philippines Commercial Director Gilberto Simpao
AIR ASIA AND CEBU CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
The Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry and AirAsia held discussions on promoting Cebu as a travel and tourism destination. Among the proposals are facilitating tourism by enabling visa-free arrivals for tourists and by asking the Philippine government to set up tourism offices and visa processing centers in southern China; promoting digital payment systems at retail establishments, hotels and restaurants; and increasing foreign language proficiency (such as in Korean, Japanese and Chinese) among tourism frontliners.
AirAsia has been increasingly connecting Cebu to international destinations including Shanghai, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Taipei, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Incheon (Seoul).
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