COTABATO CITY (PIA) -- The Bangsamoro government has expressed its full support for Bangsamoro Airways, the pioneering airline in the Bangsamoro region, which launched its first flight on April 24.

Bangsamoro Airways, a subsidiary of Federal Airways Incorporated, kicked off its inaugural flight from Plaridel, Bulacan, to Cotabato Awang Airport, transporting passengers from the Bangsamoro government.

Ranibai Dilangalen, director of the Bangsamoro Airport Authority (BAA) under the Ministry of Transportation and Communication (MOTC), pointed out how Bangsamoro Airways can help boost economic development in the region.

“The name itself, Bangsamoro Airways, is already a source of pride and honor for the BARMM people. We are optimistic that the additional airline in the Bangsamoro areas will absolutely trigger the economic activity of the region,” she said.

During the launch program, Eric Yam, strategic management director of Federal Airways, shared how their airline management team started and came up with Bangsamoro Airways.

“We want to show the world that the Bangsamoro is ready. The best way is for us to take a step forward. The Bangsamoro is ready for growth, for development, and for investments,” he said.

According to Yam, the project started out as a collaborative effort by a group of people looking for ways to support the development of the Philippines' newly established autonomous region in 2020, and it eventually turned into a mission when it became clear that the region needed more air transportation facilities.

"Gathering the participation of foreign individuals who share the same vision and are dedicated to helping develop this region with the common aspiration of creating an intrinsic and cultural-based aviation advocacy, Federal Airways Inc. was born with Bangsamoro Airways as its trade name," he conveyed.

Individuals with combined work experiences in the aviation, marketing, information technology, business processing outsourcing (BPO), government affairs, international trade, and finance sectors, particularly in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, make up the Federal Airways management team, said Yam.

“We are a very unique company. We are a company that truly unites diversity through the participation of various stakeholders. We want to show the people that the BARMM is open to the world,” he stressed.

Bangsamoro Airways will initially fly from Cotabato City to Zamboanga City and Jolo, Sulu, and vice versa. It has a limited seating capacity, catering to only six to ten passengers, including the aviators.

Within three months of operation, the airline plans to expand its services to the municipalities of Sibutu and Mapun in Tawi-Tawi and, after a year, to Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.

The Bangsamoro government stated that the airline intends to connect mainland BARMM to its island provinces in order to make significant services accessible, strengthen bureaucracy and logistics, and boost the region's economy, tourism, and employment, among other things. (LTB - PIA Cotabato City)