South East Asian Airlines planning flights to Macau

South East Asian Airlines (SEAir) is planning to start flying to Macau as early as April, and despite the spiraling fuel prices and incursion of the major carriers, the airline will acquire two new airbuses which are scheduled for delivery in the first quarter of this year.
According to the Philippines News Agency, Avelino Zapanta, SEAir president, said this is the many firsts of SEAir this 2009.
Zapanta said the airline will also go international, noting that with the recent signing of the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) Open Sky Agreement, “it is full speed ahead for SEAir as it plans to operate flights for Singapore, Macau, Incheon [in South Korea], Bangkok and Kaoshiung [in Taiwan].”
”In April 2009, we will fly to Singapore and Macau, [and] in August, Bangkok and Hong Kong, and in September, we are looking at Incheon, Bangkok and Kaoshiung,” Zapanta said.
All new flights will use the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) in Clark, Pampanga, Zapanta added.
According to the report, in November last year, flights from Puerto Princesa to Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia were made available. The total routing of the operation is Clark-Caticlan-Puerto Princesa-Kota Kinabalu.
This is SEAir's first international flight which also serves as its entry point to the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asia Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) market.
Meanwhile, Patrick Tan, vice president for commercial affairs, said “we believe in tourism as the industry of the future for the Philippines and SEAir wishes to continue to contribute in the tradition of its pioneering effort that started 14 years and recently has been manifested in new services to Tablas, Daet, Baler, Basco and Borongan.”
Aviation records show that in January to October last year, more than 35 percent of all flights to Caticlan in Boracay were via SEAir. There are at least four local carriers flying to the island paradise, the report added.
SEAir made 3,511 flights to and from Caticlan. This translates to 635 flights more than the nearest competitor.
SEAir is owned by foreign partnership of Iren Dornier and Nikos Gitsis with 40 percent, and the Filipino group of Tomas Lopez, Jr. with 60 percent.