Davao-Manado flight launched

Davao-Manado flight launched

MANILA: President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo inaugurated on
Wednesday the start of a regular weekly Philippines-Indonesia
flight serving areas that Southeast Asian leaders have been
trying to jointly develop.

Arroyo banged a ceremonial gong at an international airport in
the southern port city of Davao to launch the maiden Air
Philippines flight from that trading and tourism hub to Manado,
Indonesia.

The service will complement Philippine cargo flights to Manado
launched by another local company, Aboitiz One, in January, a
government statement said.

The two countries, along with Brunei and Malaysia, started
promoting economic growth in 1994 in neighboring provinces
comprising the Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines-
East Asean Growth Area, or BIMP-EAGA.

The area has been lagging economically, burdened by security
problems from Muslim extremist guerrillas, pirates and smugglers.
-- Dow Jones