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Tuesday, November 03, 2009 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
Corporate News
New budget airline gets second plane
CLARK-BASED budget carrier Spirit of Manila Airlines Corp. has increased its fleet to three with the delivery last week of another aircraft that would fly to Macau and Taiwan.
In a statement on its Web site, Spirit of Manila said it received on Oct. 24 its second McDonnell Douglas (Boeing) MD-83, which can carry up to 165 passengers. It received its first MD-83 plane in August. The carrier has orders for nine more aircraft.
Spirit of Manila, which was formed in January 2008, will also fly to Kuwait, Bahrain and Dubai in the Middle East.
Flag carrier Philippine Airlines has stopped serving the Middle East route, which it considers unprofitable.
The new budget airline expects to start operations by next month.
The carrier was supposed to build a P1-billion hangar at the Clark International Airport to house its fleet, but said in May that Clark Development Corp. had instructed it to stop the project.
Spirit of Manila, owned by Filipino and Middle Eastern businessmen, has since signed a deal with a local hangar operator to house its fleet.
The company primarily targets migrant workers in Northern and Central Luzon. It will also provide chartered flights and cargo services on demand. Aside from the five destinations it plans to serve, the company is eyeing flights to Bangkok, Doha, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Osaka, Palau and Singapore.
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