DAVAO CITY — The City Council has set the public hearing on the high airfare rates for the Davao-Manila-Davao on October 8, wherein airline companies are expected to explain the costly airfares.
Councilor Al Ryan Alejandre, Committee on Tourism chairman, said the hearing is the result of the resolution the City Council passed two weeks ago, following complaints regarding the high cost of Davao-Manila airfare that could be disadvantageous to the city’s tourism industry.
Alejandre said the hearing, to be conducted jointly with the SP’s Transportation Committee, will be participated in by the private sector, whose members are keen to seek an explanation from airline companies.
In particular, Alejandre said he and other airline travelers want to know why the Davao-Manila airfare is more expensive than the Manila-Hong Kong rate.
“There are a lot of people who are affected by this but some say it is a matter of supply and demand,” he said. “But we should not really take advantage of it — remember this is a public transportation.”
Alejandre said the rates should be regulated because some airlines are taking advantage of the peak and off-peak time, which he said, affects not just ordinary travelers but also the larger economic and tourism condition of the city.
The City Council, he said, is also mulling the passage of another resolution to ask Congress to enact a law to regulate airfares to prevent abuse by airline companies.
Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. president Arturo Milan said he supports the move, saying the expensive fare has discouraged tourists from visiting the city.
Milan said he learned that during the last Kadayawan Festival, the airfare reached up to PHP12,000 for a one-way Manila-Davao ticket.
“Airline is a public utility and like other public utilities, it should be also regulated. We don’t have any problem of the fare increase because they are also giving promo fares but not that much,” he said. (Armando Fenequito Jr./PNA)
