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Iloilo Travel Guide joins the AirAsia's Inaugural Iloilo to Manila flight

October 1, 2017 was a red-letter day as AirAsia officially had its inaugural flights from Manila to Iloilo! Red and white motif was all-over the Iloilo International Airport signalling the entry of the world's best low-cost airline to this part of Western Visayas.

Ilonggos anticipated this service months ahead with excitement as a third player in the domestic airline industry (servicing Iloilo) would mean more competitive price and scheduling.



Indeed, AirAsia offered special introductory ALL-IN fares for as low as PhP814 from Iloilo and PhP 999 from Manila.
No wonder, there was a blockbuster crowd at the ILO airport check-in terminal that day! Your ILOILO TRAVEL GUIDE was among the first to travel via AirAsia to Manila as the airline invited the bloggers and the local media from Iloilo and Bacolod to be experience the inaugural flight.
Of lines and stripes
Iloilo City's famed Dinagyang Festival greeted the travelers with photo ops and some souvenirs from AirAsia. It also gave a sort of breather for the passengers who lined up for the check-in process.

Though the check-in took longer than the usual, you know birth pains, it wasn't that long in my case. Good thing I already did a mobile check-in a day before so I just flashed my ID and QR code (as e-boarding pass) at the airport's main entrance and the check in counter.



I also made sure my hand-carry bags weighed less than 7 kilos, since I think that's where most of the check-in problems started. 
Just a click away
After dropping off my baggage at the counter, I received a printed copy of my boarding pass plus claim tags for my two bags. And it was off to the pre-departure area.

There I met my fellow travelers - bloggers and writers from Iloilo and Bacolod, who will also take the skies with AirAsia to Manila a 3-day, 2-night familiarization tour of a popular tourist destination just two-hours away from Manila.
RED, REDDER, REDDEST 
After so many selfies and photo ops at the pre-departure area, we had our first glimpse of AirAsia's AirBus A320 plane that would bring us to Manila.

A ceremonial water cannon salute officially welcomed the plane to the Iloilo International Airport. It was commandeered by no less than AirAsia Philippines CEO Captain Dexter Comendador. 
While an official program took place to celebrate this inaugural flight inside the airport, we were excitedly lining up and walking down the tube.



Good thing we were booked as Premium Flex passengers, that we enjoyed some perks along the way including express boarding (we we're in front of the line) and 20 kgs baggage allowance.
And we got to sit in the front rows too! Those seats with red covers are reserved for Premium Flex passengers for easy identification.
Took the chance to take this shot while nobody was around
As we took our seats, we then made photo ops to serve as visual digital souvenirs for this inaugural flight.
All smiles!
Jokingly, we gave each trio a nickname according to how "noisy" the group was.



There's a Carnival group, there's the Canteen group and finally, the Convent group. Can you guess which is which?
After the plane SOP's - plane safety demos, etc, we finally took off for an approximate 1-hour air travel to Manila.
We familiarized ourselves the in-flight magazine named Travel3Sixty and the Santan inflight menu catalog.



The magazine gave us an idea how far and wide the reach of AirAsia not only in the Philippines but also around Asia and beyond. While the menu just made our stomach's grumble louder and louder as the minutes pass by...
As if on cue, our names were called and with that they started serving (and selling) in-flight meals. Usually, I can go without having a meal on-board but again thanks to Premium Flex, it was part of our "eatinerary".
Served was the crowd favorite and a seasoned champ according the menu  - Uncle Chin's Chicken Rice.

 It is the Malaysian version of Hainanese Chicken where Santan's take consists of roasted chicken strips partnered with seasoned rice and served with Uncle Chin's signature (and secret) chili-ginger-garlic sauce concoction. 
How I wished it didn't have to be a secret since I loved the sauce that perfectly complemented the roasted chicken (already delicious on it's own) and savory rice.



I could have asked for (bought) another serving if we had more time but the pilot's voice boomed over the PA system informing us that we will be touching down NAIA in a few minutes.
And we landed almost right on schedule! Generally, it was a smooth flight, with some minor (easily tolerable) turbulence. We took the opportunity to thank our pilots and plane crew for making the inaugural AirAsia Iloilo-Manila flight safe & smooth; fun & festive and a whole lot delicious ..... burp! 

Now, everyone can fly!

Next Stop: 

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