The European Union finally lifted on Wednesday a ban on Filipino carriers which was in place since 2010. The lift will especially help Philippines Airlines to plan its comeback to Europe.
MANILA – Finally, the good news came after years of waiting. On Wednesday, the European Union Air Safety Commission finally lifted partially its ban over the Philippines.
From this coming Friday, Philippines Airlines, the national carrier of the Philippines will be able to fly into Europe if it wants to. Commenting to Associated Press news agency, EU Ambassador to Manila Guy Ledoux said that more safety improvements will have to be made for other Philippine carriers, like budget airline Cebu Pacific Air, to also be exempted from the air safety ban. A Cebu Pacific aircraft was recently victim of an accident at Davao Airport in Southern Philippines when it skidded off the runway and got stuck for the next two days.
The Philippine government on Wednesday night welcomed however the decision of the European Union (EU) to lift the ban on the national carrier. Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said that with the lifting of the ban, this could boost tourism and enhance competitiveness, and facilitate the entry of investments from the Eurozone.
“The determination and hard work that have resulted in the upgrading of the country’s aviation status will generate positive, far-reaching effects for the local aviation industry and the country in general,” he said.
He also lauded the consequent efforts made by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines to strengthen the local airline industry and improve air infrastructures through the country. Early this year, ICAO conducted an assessment on the efforts made by the Philippines to improve the situation and gave a certificate of satisfaction over the ability of the CAAP to address and solve previous safety issues.
Meanwhile, Philippines Airlines President Ramon Ang announced to plan now to launch again flights from Manila to Amsterdam, London, Paris and Rome from this coming October or November. In an interview with a local television and radio channel, PAL President explained to probably offer a daily frequency to London as well as a daily frequency shared between Paris and another city, using its new Boeing 777-300ER. “We still have to wait for October, we have to make arrangements with all these airports for the slots,” Ang explained to the Channel.
Mr. Ang added that the resumption of PAL flights to Europe will help improving the airline’s profitability. Philippines Airlines President is hopeful also that the EU lift will also influence the US Federal Aviation Administration to upgrade again Philippines Civil Aviation into category 1, which will then allow PAL to operate new destinations in the USA with new aircraft.
Between Europe and the Philippines, there is currently only one daily flight offered by Air France-KLM from Amsterdam to Manila with a stop in Taipei. For the year 2013, this represents only 365 flights for a capacity of almost 128,500 seats, a paltry result compared for example with Indonesia (1,429 annual flights for 438,800 seats) or even Taiwan (953 annual flights for 321,500 seats).
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
