Skyjet can take tourists to Virac in 40 minutes

Instead of spending a six-hour trip travelling to Virac and Caramoan Island from Manila passing through Naga City, sightseers can reach the place in only 40 minutes by taking a faster route.

The newest, and service-oriented airline in the Philippines, Skyjet can take tourists to Virac in 40 minutes with a total time from Manila to Caramoan by air, land and boat travel, all in two hours only.

According to Skyjet president and CEO, Joel Mendoza, the entry of Skyjet will help boost local tourism and showcase unique cultural attractions of Virac, Catanduanes.

Caramoan Island is widely known as the venue of Survivor USA and is part of Camarines Sur, not Virac which is the nearest way to get into the island.

"We study the time from departure in Manila until we arrive at the island of Caramoan and it took us a total of two hours compared to the other route that takes them six hours from Legaspi to Caramoan vice versa," Mendoza said, in a statement.

"This means that there is potential to increase tourists to visit Virac, he said, adding that Caramoan resorts are already accepting tourists from both sides because they are prepared to handle the demand."

Virac is now recognized as a world-class surfing destination by the International Surfing Community where lies the Puraran Beach.

"[We are] geared to tourism. Our culture is so rich, [we] need to invest in it," Mendoza said, explaining how he targeted places that were not entirely economic-driven but getting there.

"I'm not here to compete, I'm here to create more traffic," he added. "We should start where our asset is."

Skyjet Airlines launched its first scheduled service by flying to Basco, Batanes, on December 14 last year and achieved success in supporting the Batanes local community by providing alternative income through Cultural Tourism.

Flights from Manila to Busuanga in Palawan (four times a week) began early February, while flights to Caticlan began this month. Next flights lined up will be to Virac and Surigao City.

The aircraft, used by the Royal Family of London, is a utilized British Aerospace manufactured 4-engine BAE-146 series 200 (94-seater) and series 100 (76-seater) jet aircraft– called a whispering jet for its quiet engines.