Aurora eyed as tourist haven with new flights

SAN LUIS, Aurora — When Philip Murphy first set foot here last Thursday, he was ecstatic. He was salivating over the fact that he found another tourist destination in the country.

Murphy, 45, a contractor from Michigan, was one of the 19 passengers of the inaugural flight of an LET410 aircraft that touched down at the Juan Angara airport in Barangay San Isidro.

Murphy was in the company of Sen. Edgardo Angara and a host of foreigners that included Taiwanese, Swiss, Japanese and fellow Americans, who like him, marveled at the experience.

"The flight is excellent. It’s really nice here," said Murphy, adding that it was his dream to travel across the Pacific Ocean.

He said he used to live in Manila but is now looking forward to visiting Aurora more often with the twice-a-week commercial flights of domestic carrier South East Asian Airline (SEAIR).

Angara’s younger sister, Gov. Bellaflor Angara-Castillo, the prime mover behind the airport project, said Murphy learned about the inaugural flight only through the province’s website.

She said many other foreign and domestic tourists have signified their intention to visit the province with the new commercial flights.

Aside from Murphy, also in the passenger manifest were Taiwanese Frank Lim, director of Wan Hai Lines Ltd., Asia’s leading shipping company and ranked among the top 10 shipping firms in the world with a fleet of 78 ships; and Masahiro Mirayama, honorary consul of northern Japan and manager of a chain of hotels in Iwate, Japan.

Sen. Angara, a native of the capital town of Baler, cited the huge impact of the commercial flights on the provincial economy.

"The twice-weekly flights will ensure that more people, including tourists and investors, will be going to Aurora. Let us open Aurora to the outside (world)," he said.

He said SEAIR might hold daily Manila-Baler-Manila flights once the road networks in the province are upgraded.

House Deputy Minority Leader Sonny Angara, the senator’s son, said Aurorans should help make the airport feasible by patronizing it and take the lead from SEAIR which took the chance by flying to the province.