I left my heart in San Fernando

MANILA, Philippines – Your pulse races and your heart does a double somersault with back flip. You know you’re in love … at first sight — that is, the minute you lay your eyes on this luscious slice of paradise called Thunderbird Resorts at Poro Point, San Fernando City, La Union. And the beauty of it all is that you don’t have to drive all the way to San Fernando’s hideaway. Because now, you can fly to one of the country’s hottest destinations today — and yes, spread your wings.

I had a hot date with history last April 14. I was one of the first passengers on board Seair’s (South East Asian Airlines) inaugural flight to San Fernando, La Union.

Needless to say, Avelino Zapanta, president and CEO of Seair, was in high spirits. Having been in the industry for the past 40 years, he’s been on many inaugural flights, but this one strikes a special chord in his heart.

“In the 1980s, there was a flight to San Fernando, La Union,” he relates with a hint of nostalgia. “After that, there had been no service. Because there used to be an operation to Baguio. What happened before was during inclement weather, you couldn’t operate to Baguio. San Fernando was always the alternate airport. During the rainy season, flights to Baguio would be operated in San Fernando, but after the rainy season, there were no more flights. That other airline tried to operate there regularly, but traffic was very low.”

But emotions soar as La Union warmly welcomes Seair to its newly refurbished P500-million San Fernando City Airport (SFCA) one sweltering Wednesday. Zapanta gushes, “It’s Seair’s policy to introduce services to this new exotic destination because San Fernando is already a world-class destination that can be promoted, particularly with the Thunderbird Resorts developments here and many other establishments. As a matter of fact, we’re going to promote this flight as a two-destination flight. That means we will carry passengers to San Fernando and to Baguio. It’s about three hours by land from Manila to San Fernando, whereas if you fly, it would take you less than an hour. It’s another hour by land from La Union to Baguio. Thunderbird is planning to set up land transport from San Fernando to Baguio because they would also like to promote Thunderbird in Baguio.”

This is designed for the high-end, leisure market. “If you’re taking a car, there can only be so many of you. If you’re moving as a group, it might be faster to fly,” Zapanta points out.

Seair just became the first leisure airline to serve the route, boosting access to and from the gateway to Northern Luzon — Baguio, saga-rich Sagada, and other parts of the region. The one-hour flights are scheduled on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Seair passengers can avail themselves of complimentary land transfers from San Fernando to Baguio City and back.

Zapanta is proud to add, “We’re the only operator to Basco, the only operator to El Nido, the only operator to Tawi-Tawi and Jolo. We’re the major operator in Caticlan, the oldest operator there in the last 15 years. We go to Marinduque, which is also a tourist destination. To La Roca, the new resort there, with flights to Tablas. Of course, our base is Clark. We fly to Cebu from Caticlan because we’ve linked Caticlan with Cebu, Manila and Clark. We have a regular flight from Clark to Caticlan. Then we have many regular flights from Manila to Caticlan. And then Caticlan to Cebu. We have a marketing objective of linking paradise to paradise.”

“We certainly look forward to the day when we would be welcoming international flights (from Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Korea, and Asean countries),” enthuses Mary Jane Ortega, former mayor of San Fernando City.

Of course, San Fernando City is more than just the airport. It’s also about tourist sights that warm the heart and pilgrimage sites that heal the soul. Then there’s food, glorious food to satisfy the belly, too. You just won’t run out of things to do in San Fernando — from surfing to shopping!

A hop, skip, and jump away from the airport is the Santorini-inspired Thunderbird Resorts at Poro Point with its charming blue domes and whitewashed architecture. Probably as Greek to you as it is to me, Santorini is the most popular holiday destination in Greece. Located in the South Aegean Sea and carved out of an awesome volcanic landscape, Santorini is so romantic and enchanting that people come here to get married. Well, Thunderbird Resorts transplanted a bit of that Grecian haven to San Fernando. No need though to “import” Santorini’s natural attractions as San Fernando boasts its own breathtaking sunset and deep blue sea that can give Santorini a run for its euro.

Jack Mitchell, Thunderbird Resorts CEO, declares, “For me, La Union is one of the best-kept secrets of the Philippines because there are nice beaches here and you have something that you hardly see anywhere in the world — you have a proximity to beautiful beaches, a proximity to nice mountains where you have a cool climate so you can enjoy these two different venues. And it’s a place that has a lot of history and I’m still learning about it — all the rice paddies. It’s a place with a lot going on and nature. There’s surfing, scuba diving, boating, fishing.”

Based in Latin America, Mitchell shares, “The company started about 15 years ago, it did a lot of business with the native Americans in the US and the native population. And the Thunderbird is a very important part of their history, it’s almost like a god for a lot of tribes not only in the States but also in Latin America. It was the bird that brought all the storms and the rains and everything that obviously watered all the crops.”

At Poro Point, Thunderbird is cooking up quite a storm. “We have a beautiful golf course right on the ocean,” says Mitchell. “We have a casino. There’s a lot to do. And the food is fantastic! We have a really nice buffet restaurant in the casino and the Olives restaurant.”

And there’s more on the menu of developments for Thunderbird Resorts.

Now, all that should make your heart soar.

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To purchase tickets, visit www.FlySeair.com or call 849-0100. For packages, call Seair Leisure Escape Packages at 843-7308. For updates on promos and new routes, join Seair Facebook Fan Page.