EC body urged to check RP's air safety compliance

MANILA, Philippines - Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines Director General Alfonso Cusi told members of the European Community’s Air Safety Committee (EC-ASC) that now is the time for them to visit the Philippines and see for themselves how the aviation body has complied with their safety concerns.

Cusi extended the invitation during a one-day presentation last Thursday in Brussels, Belgium, before the 27-member body led by Daniel Calleja, EU director general for Transportation and Energy.

Cusi, who led a mission comprising of CAAP highly technical people and Philippine Airlines (PAL) executives arrived yesterday at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport terminal 1 on board KLM Royal Dutch Airlines to report the outcome of their appearance before the European Commission.

“Twice in the past we begged you not to come because we were not ready. Now we ask you to come because we are ready,” Cusi said in an airport interview.

He added that he hopes to demonstrate the Philippines’ commitment to improved air safety oversight by inviting the Calleja group (EU) to conduct its own safety inspection on the Philippine aviation system.

The EC-ASC is concerned about the safety of Philippine aviation because many of their nationals fly into the country as tourists or businessmen. It would take about two weeks before the EU body officially responds with the CAAP.

The Europeans make a quarterly review of countries that they deemed had “significant safety concerns.”

Cusi said that the EC-ASC had recognized what the Philippines had done to comply to their concerns, such as the hiring of technical people, adhering to the minimum “qualification standards” for employees and other related issues.

However, he added that the Europeans also commented that what the country’s aviation body did in the past weeks “are not enough to reverse all the problems we had during the past years.”

To fully comply and meet their demands with satisfaction, Cusi said that the EC want assurance that all of the country’s “aviation practices, processes, and aircraft are safe for the public. It’s more on business processes.”

Cusi added that the 27-member body is satisfied with the presentation made by PAL for what it had been doing to see that their operations are safety and up to world standards.