ALAMINOS CITY, Pangasinan - The first of its kind Air Safari will soon be opened as additional service for tourists going to and from the Hundred Islands National Park here, according to Mayor Hernani Braganza.

Braganza said the Air Safari will be offered by AeroFlight Airways based in Pasay City, a flying school that is seeking to provide charter flights as additional service.

He said their company is in the business of training pilots since 1998 but is now set to offer charter service to serve the needs for group tours and help boost tourism.

“We are trying to complement the plan of Mayor Braganza to make the Hundred Islands as hub of tourism in the entire country,” said Varela, explaining the purpose of the chartered service.

Mayor Braganza said the Air Safari is something that the Hundred Islands needs to be  more accessible to tourists, domestic and foreign.

Varela said his company feels this is what the Philippines needs in order to link all the islands in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

According to him, there would be an initial two planes, both U.S. made, to be used for the chartered flights, each of which is single engine turbo-prop that can land in the water as well as on land.

These planes would be based in Alaminos to be used by tourists who may want to fly to Laoag or to Boracay and any other destinations after seeing the Hundred Islands.

Five pilots would be on stand-by in Alaminos to fly these amphibious planes to take tourists to anywhere they want.

Other planes would be stationed at its base in Pasay City to accomodate tourists booked to go to the Hundred Islands, dropping by either at Subic or Clark.

Since Alaminos is more on sea, the aircrafts can land in the water with the disembarking passengers to be picked up by boats, Varela said.

However, he concedes that there may be a need for an air strip to be built by the city later on.

Although high-end tourists are probably only the ones who may avail of the charter flights, the value of convenience and comfort in riding on an aircraft is priceless, Varela stressed.

Saying that it takes only 45 minutes to reach Manila from Alaminos and vice versa, Varela stressed that the chartered flight will be a non-scheduled service that will depend on the arrangement made by tourists who will be making the flights.

He said AeroFlight listed destinations that it can offer chartered service, like Palawan, Boracay, Cebu and others but chose Hundred Islands because of its closeness to Manila.

Varela said that when they approached Mayor Braganza to offer their service, the latter immediately gave his stamp of approval to the idea.