My wife and I recently went on a vacation to Boracay. That was our first time to visit since the 6-month closure and we had been hearing some positive feedback. When Boracay has opened again, the number of tourists were significantly reduced and they only allow entry for those tourists with confirmed bookings from accredited hotels. They also removed all the structures near the beach to allow more people to enjoy their time in the sand.
I happen to stumble on Royal Air when I was trying to look for a last-minute deal for our Boracay vacation. I already booked our hotel and as I was checking the flights from Clark to Caticlan, I saw Royal Air, along with Air Asia, Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific. I'm already settled for Air Asia because it's cheaper the than PAL and CEBPAC, but when I tried checking the rates of Royal Air, it was a bit cheaper.
Royal Air is a small commercial airline that started out as a private charter. It has three (3) 97-seater British Aerospace (BAe) AVRO 146 RJ-100 series in its fleet. The aircraft is sometimes called "whisperjet" but in Royal Air's case, I can't even use my headphones to binge-watch my favourite TV series or listen to Spotify because the engine was way too loud!
The cabin has two seats on the left and three seats on the right and appears to be a bit spacious in my opinion, than what Air Asia or Cebu Pacific has to offer. The biggest drawback? The plane needed a lot of scrubbing and the air condition was pitiful! According to the cabin crew, the air will be a lot cooler when the plane was in the air. During the flight, they served us with a chocolate sponge cake and bottled water, which was nice, I guess.
So, will I fly again with Royal Air? Yeah, if all the airlines close or I do not have a choice. Or if the fare is really cheap! After all, I'm a budget traveller. In Royal Air's case, it is the destination, not the journey, that matters.
