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MALACAÑANG has told the Philippine air panel to give
priority to negotiations for a new air services
agreement (ASA) with Singapore and New Zealand.
Civil
Aeronautics Board (CAB) director Carmelo Arcilla said in
an interview on Friday that the panel will have
bilateral talks with New Zealand next month, followed by
another round of air talks with Singapore in October.
In the
following months, or after the panel has successfully
concluded talks with New Zealand and Singapore, there is
a plan to negotiate for an amended ASA with Hong Kong,
Macau, Cambodia and possibly Russia.
“We are
also arranging bilateral talks with Russia, hopefully in
November, and Cambodia in December. But right now, what
is definite is that we will hold air talks with
Singapore and New Zealand,” said CAB deputy director
Porvenir Porciuncula in a separate interview.
Arcilla
said there are no proposals yet from the air panels of
the Philippines and New Zealand as to how many seat
entitlements are being eyed. “If we will be successful,
this will be the country’s first ASA with
New Zealand,”
he said.
The
Philippine air panel is composed of representatives from
the Department of Transportation and Communication,
Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Tourism,
Department of Foreign Affairs, the CAB and local
airlines.
Since
the start of the year, the air panel has sealed only one
air pact. The Philippines and Korea completed bilateral
air talks on May, with the two countries increasing seat
entitlements to 19,000 from 7,000 previously.
While
Arcilla said the government’s progressive air
liberalization policy was proceeding at a “healthy
pace,” there are cases where Philippine carriers’
foreign partners got the upper hand during the
implementation of the ASAs.
For
instance,
South Korea’s
Ministry of Communication and Transportation wants to
temporarily stop Asian Spirit’s chartered flights from
Kalibo, Aklan to
Incheon,
South Korea,
while the carrier’s application is being processed.
“After
the new air pact with
South Korea
was signed, Asian Spirit wrote us asking for our help.
There should be no need to stop the chartered flights,
even temporarily,” said Arcilla.
The CAB
had already asked
South Korea
to act favorably on Asian Spirit’s application to fly
regularly from Kalibo, Aklan, to Incheon.
The CAB,
meanwhile, urged the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Authority
to reconsider its decision rejecting the application of
Cebu Pacific (CEB) to field chartered flights to Hong
Kong. CEB said the Hong Kong Civil Aeronautics Division
had told them that there was not enough space in the
bilateral agreement. However, HK Airlines continues to
operate from Clark to Hong Kong.
Arcilla
also said the CAB will write to aviation authorities in
Hong Kong, Bangkok and Macau to appeal their response to
Cebu Pacific’s application to operate commercial flights
in these areas. “We will write to them. Of course, we
need to protect our airlines as well,” he added.
Thailand’s
aviation authority has informed CEB there are no more
flight entitlement left for the airline to mount
Clark-Bangkok flights. CEB wanted to fly to Bangkok
three times a week from Clark.
The
airline unit of JG Summit Holdings Inc. also wanted to
operate out of Clark to Macau four times a week and
daily to Hong Kong.
But the
Civil Aviation Authority of Macau said it could only
allow CEB two weekly flights plus another two extra
section flights, which are considered temporary permits
unless renewed by the authority.
Hong
Kong officials, meanwhile, told CEB that if it wants to
operate the Clark-Hong Kong route, then it should
utilize its Cebu-Hong Kong entitlements. CEB operates
out of Cebu to Hong Kong six-times weekly.
Besides
Bangkok, Macau and Hong Kong, CEB also plans to use
Clark to fly four times a week to Singapore and three
times a week to Taipei.
The
aviation authorities of
Singapore
and Taipei have yet to act on its applications.
CEB
expects to carry about 300,000 passengers in and out of
Clark per year initially, but is confident of increasing
this volume as
Clark continues to spark growth in the region, being the gateway
to the northern corridor.
The
Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) is
envisioned to become the main gateway of the country. |
