Cebu Pacific Air resumed its regular flights to and from Surigao City last Saturday, March 11, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Cebgo, following successful repairs of the Surigao Airport runway.
Cebgo operates two daily flights via Cebu, with the first flight departing at 10:25 a.m. and the second at 1:35 p.m., the airline said in a statement.
Cebgo resumed the flights almost a month after the magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck Surigao and cracked the airport runway last February 10. CEB Vice President for Corporate Affairs lawyer JR Mantaring thanked the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines for the swift repair of the partially damaged 1,700-meter runway.
“After assessing the repairs done on the Surigao Airport runway, we have determined that we may resume safe flight operations. We laud CAAP for its expedient action to restore the runway after just 12 days of repair,” Mantaring said. “We are very pleased to once again be of service to every Juan in the ‘City of Island Adventures.’”
“We would also like to extend our appreciation to our valued passengers for their utmost understanding. Trust that we will continue working with the relevant authorities to hasten full restoration, and further improve our services,” Mantaring added to the carrier’s patrons.
Since CAAP suspended operations in Surigao Airport, passengers were forced to fly in from Butuan City and then travel by land for about three hours to Surigao. With the reopening of Surigao Airport, “it will be more convenient to travel direct to Surigao for as low as P1,882,” the airline said.
CEB currently operates flights out of five other strategic hubs in the country: Manila, Davao, Clark, Kalibo and Iloilo. The airline’s extensive network covers 66 destinations with over 100 routes, spanning Asia, Australia, the Middle East, and the United States.