Regional airlines in the Philippines

During my trip to the Philippines I managed to fly with several local airlines on different types of planes. The flights with the regional airlines were of keen interest. The story was as follows:

1. From Cebu to Caticlan on board Bombardier Dash 8 Q300

From Cebu to Caticlan (the nearest airport to the resort island Boracay) we travelled on board the plane Bombardier Dash 8 Q300. It was the aircraft of the PAL express airline – the regional unit of the national carrier "Philippine Airlines".

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The production of this vehicle named Dash 8-300 has started in the middle of the 80’s by De Havilland Canada. In the beginning of the 90’s this model had been slightly upgraded, improved and renamed into Bombardier Dash 8 Q300. The aircraft is still being produced. On the whole something about 900 planes has been manufactured. The majority of them are still on-the-run.

The International airport Cebu – the second major airport of the Philippines:

Mactan Cebu International Airport

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The plane appeared to be rather spacious, designed 2+2. For the first time in my life I saw the stewardesses in shorts.

Passenger cabin of Bombardier Dash 8 Q300

Passenger cabin of Bombardier Dash 8 Q300

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In the air:

Flying over Philippines

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Flying over Philippines

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Approaching:

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The Caticlan airport, the view from runway:

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Bombardier Dash 8 Q300 in Caticlan airport

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In the airport we came across Yak-40 of Interisland airlines which has been rejected after the hard landing several years ago. How had it appeared in that county, I wonder? Maybe it was one of the planes exported in the 70’s. At those times it was considered to be a great regional jet. Nowadays it’s wasteful and technically obsolete, but there were times..

Yakovlev Yak-40 in Caticlan airport

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The way from Caticlan (on the other island) to Boracay is to be made by boat. Before the trip you have to pay another part of taxes, port-charge, entrance fee, etc. It’s in the order of things to pay constantly various taxes and extra fee in the Philippines.

2. From Caticlan to Manila on board Dornier 328

We travelled from Caticlan to Manila on board the German aircraft Dornier 328. I was looking forward to this flight because I admire this vehicle. Its design is beyond praise. It’s a special German design – outstanding and stylish. At the same time it’s a rare bird: there are not more than 80 planes on the run nowadays, and no one in Russia.

Passenger cabin of Dornier 328 aircraft

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It’s a curious fact that the plane we were travelling by had experienced a serious incident a half-a-year earlier. It had driven over the runway in the Manila airport and got serious damages. But the plane has been reconditioned and now it’s again on the run.
It’s an interesting fact that there is one more aircraft of the same kind - Dornier 328Jet – but it’s equipped with the jet engines (turbines). Now I’m eager to fly by this jet.

In the Caticlan airport:

Dornier 328 aircraft