ILOILO CITY — Traveling to the well-known Sicogon Island in Carles, Iloilo will soon be easier and convenient for tourists wishing to visit the island.
In a media interview Wednesday, Mayor Siegfredo Betita said that AirSwift is expected to start operating its commercial flight in the last quarter of this year.
Betita confirmed a successful test flight of AirSwift’s 50-seater Turbo Prop plane from Manila-Sicogon Island conducted on August 20.
Tentatively, the airline company is planning to fly the Manila-Sicogon island route every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, Betita said.
“But it will still depend on the demand of the tourists of passengers,” he said.
The mayor said the construction of the 1.3-kilometer private runway and airport by property giant Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) that was started last year.
The construction of the airport is part of ALI’s 1,100-hectare Sicogon Island Tourism Estate project on the island as they aim to sustain the growth of the tourism sector.
At the moment, Betita said the company has already an available 50-room bed and breakfast hotel for tourists and other amenities in the island.
Betita said that the developments on Sicogon Island will have a “huge impact” in the tourism of their towns, as well its economic growth.
“In the first place, the residents will be employed and we will gain out of the money that will be spent by the tourists. This will not only benefit us in Carles but other neighboring towns because their towns might also be explored by these tourists,” he said.
To avoid the future problem on the impact of development and influx of tourists to the island’s environment, Betita assured to strictly oversee the management and enforce the local ordinances to preserve the beauty of the island.
“But I can see that the management of Ayala understands it because of what happened in Boracay,” he said.
Sicogon Island, also known as Iloilo province’s “Mini-Boracay”, is one of the tourism drivers in the province, bringing in thousands of local and foreign tourists especially during summer.
The island was one of those recommended by the Department of Tourism in Western Visayas while Boracay Island in Malay, Aklan is undergoing six months rehabilitation. (Cindy Ferrer/PNA)
