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THE
Philippines and the Netherlands have agreed to amend the
air services agreement (ASA) between the two countries
after the two-day talks held in Manila last week.
From the
current four weekly flights, carriers operating the
route have been allowed to mount seven flights per week
or an increase of three flight entitlements, according
to Civil Aviation Board (CAB) deputy executive director
Porvenir Porciuncula.
The CAB
official also said in a phone interview yesterday that
local airlines can now mount flights to the Netherlands
from Clark and other points outside Manila, particularly
Cebu and Davao.
“They
agreed to open up new points outside of Manila. They
know that we are for the development of Clark and other
airports as well,” said Porciuncula.
As such,
Clark, Cebu and Davao can now mount seven weekly flights
to the Netherlands, added the CAB official.
Porciuncula had said that additional flights to the
Netherlands are needed after German carrier Lufthansa
Airlines stopped flying from Manila to Frankfurt last
March.
KLM
flies daily to Amsterdam, alternately using the Boeing
777 200 and 300 aircraft which can carry 327 and 425
passengers, respectively. Right now, Air France-KLM is
the only airline operating the Manila-Amsterdam direct
flight. PAL, meanwhile, maintains its Europe access via
a code-share deal with Air France-KLM.
“KLM
will now be able to operate daily to Manila even without
a code-share arrangement with PAL. There is a demand to
increase the frequencies particularly for business
people and investors who prefer direct flights. These
are the reasons why we needed more flight entitlements,”
added Porciuncula.
The
talks were held last July 10 and 11 at the CAB office in
Parañaque City.
Next
week, the CAB along with other members of the Philippine
air panel will also pursue a similar negotiation with
Thailand.
“The
Thailand air talks are slated for July 24 and 25.
Basically, Cebu Pacific and Asian Spirit are interested
to mount or add more flights to Thailand,” said the CAB
official.
The
panel is composed of officials from the department of
Transportation and Communications, Foreign Affairs,
Tourism, and Trade and Industry as well as the CAB and
representatives from the airline companies.
The
panel, headed by Undersecretary Doroteo Reyes II, also
plans to hold talks with Australia and Japan, athough
the dates have yet to be set.
“We want
to hold the air talks with Australia by the first week
of August,” said Porciuncula.
This is
the country’s fourth successful air pact since the start
of the year.
Last
May, the country’s air panel was granted two more
passenger flight entitlements to Vancouver in Canada.
The additional entitlements will help PAL mount more
flights and eventually operate to the East Coast, and
even possibly revive its San Diego route.
The
Philippines also secured last month 32 flights per week,
eight of which went to Clark, during the concluded
RP-Cambodia Air talks held in Manila.
Also in
June, the air pact between the Philippines and Hong Kong
was amended during the two-day air talks held at Clark,
Pampanga.
Under
the new air pact, Philippine carriers can fill up to
15,000 seats per week for flights to Hong Kong from the
Ninoy Aquino International Airport , up to 6,300-weekly
seats for Clark to Hong Kong flights; and up to 2,500
seats per week from Cebu and other airports outside of
Manila .
Previously, seat entitlements between Manila and Hong
Kong stood at 13,000 per week. For Cebu to Hong Kong
flights, only 2,300 passengers per week were allowed.
There were also no flights from Clark and other
remaining airports then.
Clark
International Airport Corp. president Victor Jose I.
Luciano had said that the 6,300 seat entitlements per
week for Clark translate to 35 flights or around 5
flights per day.
Luciano
said the thousands of OFWs based in Hong Kong will
benefit from the result of the fruitful RP-HK air talks.
For air
cargo, the new ASA allows up to 400 tons per week from
the previous 300 tons for Manila to Hong Kong route. For
Clark to Hong Kong, both countries agreed on a 1,400
weekly tons.
“The
increase in RP-Hong Kong air capacity answers the
challenge of air congestion for this route in Manila.
This is good news for the travelers and other
stakeholders for they now have more options for fly this
route. It will also boost tourism and other related
businesses,” Reyes said. |
