Just in time for the celebration of the Moriones festival which will take place on April 14-20 this year, the Philippines’ largest carrier announced that they will expand its domestic footprint with the commencement of regular commercial flights between Manila and Marinduque.
The Manila-Marinduque route will be operated by subsidiary Cebgo using its fleet of brand-new ATR aircraft.
Flights between Manila and Marinduque will commence operations on April 1, 2019 every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. The flight will be operated out of the NAIA Terminal 4 (Manila Domestic Terminal) in Manila.
Marinduque is the site of the Moriones Festival, held annually during Holy Week. It reenacts the story of Longinus, the Roman centurion who pierced the crucified Jesus Christ with a spear, and his eventual conversion to Christianity.
Marinduque is the 37th domestic destination of Cebu Pacific, and often mentioned as an idyllic destination for a tropical getaway by travel writers.
“We are excited to begin operations in one of the most beautiful islands in the Philippines–Marinduque,” said Alexander Lao, President and CEO of Cebgo, “It takes only about an hour to fly between Manila and Marinduque—in contrast to the eight hour trip by ferry and land today. Regular flights will allow business to prosper and the island’s tourism sector to boom.”
To travel between Manila and Marinduque, residents, tourists and entrepreneurs currently spend up to four hours by land from Manila to the Dalahican Port in Lucena, then take a three to four hour roll-on, roll-off (Roro) ferry ride to the island-province. When the sea is rough or a storm signal is raised, ferry services are grounded—sometimes for several days.
“It was a long and tedious process to bring about this route. We are thankful for the collaboration and cooperation of various government agencies for the completion of the runway and terminal facilities at the Marinduque Airport,” said Marinduque Representative Lord Allan Jay Velasco.
