SkyJet Airlines

Magnum Air (SkyJet), Inc., operating as SkyJet Airlines (styled as SKYJET Airlines), is a Philippine low-cost regional airline based in Manila, Philippines. Previously an air charter company, SkyJet commenced commercial operations on 14 December 2012, offering direct flights from Manila to underserved destinations, particularly, Basco, Batanes; Coron, Palawan; San Vicente, Palawan; and Camiguin. It bills itself as the first boutique airline in the Philippines.[1][2]

This article is about the Filipino airline. For other uses, see Sky Jet (disambiguation).
SkyJet Airlines
IATA ICAO Callsign
M8 MSJ MAGNUM AIR
FoundedSeptember 2005
Commenced operationsDecember 14, 2012 (2012-12-14)
HubsNinoy Aquino International Airport (Manila)
Fleet size4
Destinations5
Parent companyMagnum Air (Skyjet), Inc.
HeadquartersMIAA Property 4-02-114 G
5 Domestic Road, Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines
Key people
Websitewww.flyskyjetair.com
A SkyJet BAe 146-200 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in 2012. It was damaged beyond repair in 2013.

History

Filipino dentist Dr. Joel Mendoza established SkyJet Airlines in September 2005 as an air charter company offering flights aboard its fleet of British Aerospace 146 planes to group tourists going to the northern Philippine province of Batanes.[3][4] After the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) granted the company a temporary air operator's certificate (AOC) to operate commercial scheduled domestic and international routes on 3 August 2012,[5] the airline commenced commercial operations on 14 December 2012. Its inaugural commercial flight was from Manila to Basco Airport in Batanes.[6][4] On 15 February 2013, the airline began regular flights four times a week from Manila to Busuanga, Palawan, the gateway to the popular tourist destination of Coron.[4]

In December 2013, SkyJet underwent a change in its corporate management after a group of investors led by entrepreneur and Cavite provincial board member Dino Reyes Chua took over the company. Chua took over as president and chief executive officer from Mendoza, who remained chairperson of the board.[7][8] Under the new management, the airline dropped its plans to launch flights to Virac, Catanduanes and instead started regular flights three times a week from Manila to Boracay via Caticlan Airport on 14 April 2014.[9]

In 2014, SkyJet created controversy in Taiwan after it abruptly aborted its inaugural flight to the country. The airline initially announced an offer of charter flights from Kalibo International Airport in Kalibo, Aklan to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport between 15 and 31 August. However, the inaugural charter flight was aborted by the company out of concern for the passengers' safety, this after the pilot detected abnormalities in the plane that caused a malfunction. Around 200 Taiwanese tourists in four tour groups were stranded on the island resort of Boracay because of the incident. The aborted flight would have the airline's first international flight; it ultimately decided to halt the route.[10][11][12]

In January 2017, SkyJet announced that it would commence flights to Siargao on 24 February 2017. The direct flight from Manila would take tourists to the surfing capital of the Philippines four times a week.[13][14] However, following an incident wherein one of the airline's planes overshot the runway at Sayak Airport in Siargao (see below), SkyJet temporarily suspended flights to the island. On 18 January 2020, the airline announced that would resume its flights to the island on 29 March 2020,[15][16] but on 15 March 2020,[17] the airline suspended it again until 31 August 2020 due to the Enhanced Community Quarantine brought about of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines.[18]

On 6 May 2019, Skyjet launched regular daily flights (except Tuesdays and Wednesdays) from Manila to Camiguin, an island province in Mindanao. [19][20] The airline also launched its inaugural flight to San Vicente, Palawan on 16 July 2019.[21][22][23]

Acquisition by Solar Group

In March 2015, Thunder Air Aviation Inc., the aviation arm of the media conglomerate Solar Group, which is owned by the Filipino-Chinese Tieng family, acquired a 50-percent controlling stake over SkyJet. Solar Group founder and chairman Wilson Tieng became the new chairman of the airline, while Chua, who had a 20-percent stake remained president and CEO. In December 2016, Mendoza filed a syndicated estafa case against Tieng, Chua and several other officials of SkyJet for allegedly conspiring to defraud him of his shares in the company.[24][25][26]

On 18 May 2015, the CAAP suspended SkyJet's air operator's certificate due to various safety shortcomings on the rules and standards prescribed under the Philippine Civil Aviation Regulations (PCAR). These shortcomings were mentioned in the report by the European Union Assessment Team that visited the Philippines and inspected the airline from 16 to 24 April 2015.[27][28] SkyJet filed a case against the CAAP for the abrupt suspension, which it said was "irregular, not valid, and issued without due process of law", and sought PH₱20 million in damages. On 22 May 2015, the Pasay Regional Trial Court Branch 119 issued a temporary restraining order against SkyJet's suspension.[29] However, on 3 June 2015, the airline announced that it would withdraw its case against CAAP and volunteered to ground its entire fleet beginning 4 June 2015 to give way for CAAP to conduct reevaluation and assessment of the airline's safety.[30][31] The airline resumed commercial operations after the CAAP lifted the suspension order on 7 June 2015 following the airline's compliance to safety requirements.[32]

On 16 July 2018, the Bureau of Customs ordered the forfeiture of one of SkyJet's BAE 146-100 planes after the airline failed to pay PH₱90 million in duties and taxes to the government since its importation.[33][34][35][36] In February 2020, SkyJet received a leased ATR 72-500 from Elix Aviation Capital to replace the aircraft that the government confiscated as it moves forward with its expansion plans.[37][38]

Destinations

SkyJet operates to the following destinations within the Philippines:

City/Municipality Airport Notes/Refs
BascoBasco Airport[39]
CamiguinCamiguin Airport
CoronFrancisco B. Reyes Airport[40]
ManilaNinoy Aquino International AirportHub
San VicenteSan Vicente Airport
SiargaoSayak Airport[41]

Fleet

As of July 2019, SkyJet's fleet included the following aircraft:

SkyJet Airlines Fleet[37][42]
Aircraft In
Service		 Orders Passengers Notes
British Aerospace 146-100 2 — 80 1 currently stored
British Aerospace 146-200 2 — 92 1 damaged beyond repair
ATR 72-500 1 — 70 —
Total 4 —

Accidents and incidents
  • On October 19, 2013, a SkyJet aircraft, on a flight chartered by Alphaland Corporation to bring tourists to Balesin Island, overshot the runway of E. L. Tordesillas Airport in Balesin. No injuries were reported but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.[43][44]
  • On February 27, 2018, a SkyJet aircraft overshot the runway of Sayak Airport in Del Carmen, Surigao del Norte. All 73 passengers and four crew members evacuated the aircraft unharmed. The cause of the incident is currently under investigation, but the CAAP is noting a possible bird strike after one of the passengers reported that the pilot attempted to dodge a passing eagle.[45]
  • On June 8, 2018, SkyJet Flight 717 from Manila overshot the runway of Francisco B. Reyes Airport in Coron, Palawan. All 80 passengers and 6 crew members that were on the flight were unharmed. According to an initial report of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), the plane overshot the runway when it was landing and ended up in a field east of the airport.[46]

References
  1. "Skyjet to operate to underserved and unserved areas in the Philippines". centreforaviation.com. 5 April 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  2. "Travel with Skyjet: Manila's First Boutique Leisure Airlines". Philippine Tatler. 26 August 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  3. Ramos-Araneta, Macon (14 April 2013). "New York dentist buys planes for love of Batanes". Manila Standard. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  4. Arnaldo, Ma. Stella (6 December 2012). "Boutique airline takes wing, offers frills at affordable fares". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  5. "Skyjet gets temporary CAB permit to run commercial operations". GMA News Online. 15 August 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  6. "New Airline Skyjet Set To Fly To Underserved, Unserved Areas". Manila Bulletin (via Yahoo! News. 21 August 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  7. "SkyJet gets new president". The Philippine Star. 10 January 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  8. Wilson, Darryl. "SkyJet Airlines Appoints New President". www.philippineflightnetwork.com. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  9. Wilson, Darryl. "SkyJet Launching Boracay, Drops Virac". www.philippineflightnetwork.com. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  10. Lee, Hsin-Yin (23 August 2014). "Skyjet cancels services in Taiwan shortly after operation: report". Taiwan News. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  11. "Skyjet cancels inaugural flight to Boracay due to plane malfunctions". Focus Taiwan - CNA English News. 15 August 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  12. Wilson, Darryl. "Skyjet Abruptly Cancels Taiwan Flights". philippineflightnetwork.com. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  13. "SKYJET Airlines to launch direct flight to Siargao". Inquirer Lifestyle. 26 January 2017. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  14. Arnaldo, Ma. Stella (21 February 2017). "Skyjet starts Siargao flights". BusinessMirror. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  15. "SkyJet Airlines surfs home to Siargao". The Manila Times. 18 January 2020. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  16. "SkyJet resumes flights to Siargao in March". The Philippine Star. 20 January 2020. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  17. "March 13, 2020: Flight Cancellation". www.flyskyjetair.com. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  18. "June 01 2020: Flight Advisory". www.flyskyjetair.com. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  19. Paculba, Recthie (5 April 2019). "Camiguin welcomes new airline, boosts local flights". Philippine Information Agency. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  20. Vallejos, Caesar (9 May 2019). "Camiguin could hit 1M tourists, bolstered by Skyjet's game-changing direct flights to the "island born of fire"". www.eaglenews.ph. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  21. De La Cruz, Christa (9 July 2019). "You Can Now Fly Direct to San Vicente, Palawan for Less Than P1,000". www.spot.ph. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  22. "SkyJet launches San Vicente Palawan route". Manila Standard. 20 July 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  23. Tagaca, Mariane (26 July 2019). "Inaugural Flight: Skyjet Manila-San Vicente, Palawan Route". outoftownblog.com. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  24. "Tieng's solar group acquires SkyJet airlines". Manila Bulletin (via Yahoo! News). 6 March 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  25. Requejo, Rey (8 December 2016). "Intervene in SkyJet airline row, DoJ pushed". Manila Standard. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  26. Philippine News Agency (12 December 2016). "Airline exec files syndicated estafa raps vs Tieng, Cavite pol". BusinessMirror. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  27. Manabat, Jacque (18 May 2015). "CAAP suspends operations of SEAIR International, Skyjet". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  28. "CAAP stops SEAIR, SkyJet from flying". Rappler. 18 May 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  29. "TRO issued against CAAP suspension of SkyJet flights". www.portcalls.com. 27 May 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  30. Camus, Miguel (5 June 2015). "Skyjet grounds fleet for safety compliance". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  31. "Skyjet grounds fleet". www.portcalls.com. 5 June 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  32. Andrade, Jeannette (7 June 2015). "CAAP allows 2 suspended airlines to resume flights; safety requirements met". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  33. Ching, Anthony (18 July 2018). "BoC seizes 80-seater Skyjet plane". Daily Tribune. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  34. Cahiles-Magkilat, Bernie (24 July 2018). "Skyjet says it will cooperate with BOC". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  35. "Skyjet 'hopes to resolve' issue on forfeited aircraft". ABS-CBN News. 27 July 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  36. Cabuenas, Jon Viktor (17 April 2017). "BOC seizes Skyjet aircraft for lack of documents, tax receipts". GMA News Online. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  37. "Elix Aviation Capital Delivers ATR 72-500 MSN 748 to SkyJet Airlines". Elix Aviation Capital. 17 February 2020. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  38. Bates, Imogen (19 February 2020). "SkyJet receives ATR 72-500 from Elix Aviation". www.laranews.net. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  39. "Flight to Batanes". www.flyskyjetair.com. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  40. "Flight to Coron (Busuanga)". www.flyskyjetair.com. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  41. "Flight to Siargao". www.flyskyjetair.com. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  42. "SkyJet Airlines Fleet Details and History". www.planespotters.net.
  43. Ozaeta, Arnel (19 October 2013). "Plane overshoots Balesin resort airstrip". ABS-CBNnews.com. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  44. "Accident: Skyjet B462 at Balesin Island on Oct 19th 2013, overran runway on landing". avherald.com.
  45. Catoto, Roel (February 27, 2018). "Jet overshoots runway in Siargao; All passengers safe". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  46. "Plane overshoots Coron, Palawan runway; Friday flights affected". ABS-CBN News. June 8, 2018. Retrieved June 8, 2018.
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