CLARK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT— An official of the Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) on Wednesday expressed support to the opposition of Philippine Airlines (PAL) and Cebu Pacific (CEB) to the granting of additional seat entitlements to Emirates Airlines, as well as the holding of air talks between the Philippines and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Emigdio Tanjuatco III, CIAC president and CEO, said in a statement that “CIAC fully supports the position of PAL and CEB opposing the granting of additional seat entitlements to Emirates in Manila and that the air talks should no longer be held.”
He added that “the holding of the air talks is already detrimental to the country’s aviation industry.”
However, Tanjuatco said that, should the air talks proceed, “the Philippine air panel should appeal to UAE carriers to consider putting up flights in airports outside Metro Manila, particularly at this airport. “We are happy that both PAL and Cebu Pacific have that position. Hopefully, the RP air panel will take into consideration the position of the local carriers,” Tanjuatco said.
The Philippine air panel is scheduled to hold air talks with the UAE on August 27 and 28. The Emirates seeks to increase its seat entitlements at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia).
In a joint statement on August 25, PAL and CEB urged “the Philippine government to resist any and all pressure to grant unfair disadvantage to the airlines of the UAE in the form of unjustified and unnecessary disruptive additional rights to serve Manila.”
The two Philippine carriers “challenged the UAE and other Middle Eastern airlines to put up direct flights to emerging new gateways in Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao.
Emirates Airlines earlier had daily flights from the Clark airport to Dubai until it pulled out in 2013, a move that contributed to the decrease of passengers here.
AirAsia Philippines also pulled out from this airport in the same year.
Gilda Padua, president of the Greater Clark Visitors Bureau (GCVB), said they support the move of both PAL and CEB, saying that Emirates should consider airports outside Metro Manila to decongest Naia, which already exceeded its capacity.
“Emirates should fly out of other airports, especially at the Clark airport in Pampanga,” Padua said, adding that Clark airport has facilities ready to cater to the needs of Middle East carriers and Emirates “should consider going back to Clark.”
Padua said the GCVB fully supports the development of the Clark airport and that the government should utilize its advantage over other airports in the country.
Department of Tourism-Central Luzon Director Ronaldo Tiotuico said they fully support the efforts of Clark airport, PAL and CEB in harnessing the full potential of Clark by encouraging more airlines to fly out of Clark.
1 comment
finally! some people with the right frame of mind and foresight! The RP Panel should not give into these insistent requests by the uae carriers. It will translate to a heavy blow towards our flag carriers. uae is obviously asking for it for an even more unfair advantage, more so, they want to because they aim to squash their competitors. And if this request is granted, we will all know that the people responsible for deciding on the matter, have sold out the Filipino people. Yes, not just the flag carriers, but the Filipino consumers, because in the long run, uae carriers will have monopoly of the middle eastern markets once again and we are back to stiff fare pricing dictated solely by these carriers. so goodbye options and healthy competition.