ZestAir 775 maiden flight to Davao

(December 22, DIA)The weather was good, visibility at 10 kilometers, ground temperature at 28 degrees, altimeter setting at 1007.9 millibars, wind calm and runway 05 in use, ZEST AIR 775 maiden flight was established on final approach at 10 DME when its pilot initiated contact with Davao Control Tower . After bring given clearance to land runway 05, the Xian MA-60 turboprops safely landed Davao at exactly 6:30(or 1030UTC) in the evening.

While entering Alpha Three for the ramp, I asked the pilot if he’s familiar with the Davao international Airport layout. However, since the pilot reported he had on hand a chart of DIA, I reckon it’s no longer necessary to give him progressive taxi instructions. The aircraft was assigned to parking bay number 7 and the pilot also confirmed he intended to follow the ground martial.

ZestAir, whose radiotelephony was “spirit”, was a relatively small aircraft. Passengers numbering to more than 20 were observed disembarking from the aircraft. ZestAir pilot reported the aircraft could accommodate 56 passengers.

ZestAir’s dubbed as ”Asia’s most refreshing airline ” was the former Asian Spirit airline company with a fleet of De Havilland Dash 7 aircraft that used to provide alternative domestic airline services to other satellite airports in the country. It also had a short-lived international destination serving a Manila-Davao-Palau (vice-versa) route. At the height of its promising(?) stay in the airline industry, some of its pilots became our friends who sometimes came to Davao Control Control tower for a morning “chika”.

ZestAir’s maiden flight to Davao was supposed to be on December 20. To the dismay of some Dabawenyos who happened to buy tickets on said schedule, its maiden flight landed on DIA’s runway two days later instead.

Zesto’s …errr…ZestAir’s presence is another positive development in our country’s dynamic airline industry. Amidst the “airfare war” among the major airline companies, it is poised (daw!)to deliver competitive services and hopefully, cheaper airfares, that the Filipino flying public direly need.

Hmm… let’s just see what this newcomer could offer to the Philippine travelers. Let’s also hope that unlike the “former” Asian Spirirt, ZestAir stays longer in the industry. With its plan to acquire a 220 seater Airbus 320, who knows it could even duplicate what Cebu Pacific has achieved in becoming another formidable local carrier. Sabi pa nila, the more, the merrier. Yehey… (that’s the spirit!)

P.S

ZestAir774 was airborne Davao at 7:31(1131 UTC) in the evening.