PH, Indonesian Partners Team Up to Launch Davao-Manado Air Connectivity

Ambassador to Indonesia Lee Hiong Tan Wee (fifth from left), Consul General to Manado Oscar Orcine (fourth from right), and the team from the Philippine Consulate General in Manado pose for a photo during the Inaugural Ceremony of Garuda Indonesia Manado-Davao-Manado Route. (Manado PCG photo)

MANADO 04 October 2019 — Ambassador to Indonesia Lee Hiong Tan Wee and Consul General to Manado Oscar Orcine, together with Indonesian government officials, airline executives, and Philippine and Indonesian traders and tour operators, led the Philippine delegation which took Garuda Indonesia Airline's maiden flight from Manado to Davao on 27 September 2019.

Supporters of the project from various public and private organizations in North Sulawesi gathered in Sam Ratulangi International Airport to give a festive send off to the Davao-bound contingent that would meet with Philippine Government officials led by the Mindanao Development Authority, Davao-based businessmen and travel agents, as well as officers and staff of the Indonesian Embassy and the Indonesian Consulate General in Davao.

“The new route will bring the Philippines and Indonesia ever closer together and provide the impetus to increasing trade, development, tourism, and people-to-people cooperation,” Ambassador Wee emphasized at the send-off ceremony.

Dignitaries present at the ceremony shared the Ambassador's optimism that the continued operation of the air service, which connects regions that are distant from the national capitals, will generate a ripple effect that will fuel interest in maritime connectivity and open up new markets for Philippine and Indonesian products.

In a show of solidarity between the two countries, the maiden flight was welcomed with a water cannon salute as the aircraft taxied for the first time to its designated offloading slot at the Francisco Bangoy International Airport in Davao. END

Ambassador Wee (fifth from right), Consul General Orcine (fourth from left) and of North Sulawesi Officials pose for a photo during the Inaugural Ceremony of Garuda Indonesia Manado-Davao-Manado Route. (Manado PCG photo)

For more information, visit https://www.manadopcg.dfa.gov.phor https://www.facebook.com/PHinManado/.