MANILA, Philippines - Local airlines led by budget carrier Cebu Air Inc. (Cebu Pacific) of taipan John Gokongwei Jr. are excited about the industry’s prospects with the impending lifting of a ban preventing Philippine carriers from mounting additional flights to the US.
Alex Reyes, general manager for the long-haul division of Cebu Pacific, said the results of the audit conducted by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) on the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) last week as announced by the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) was a positive development for the local airline industry.
“The lifting of the ICAO significant safety concern is positive for the entire Philippine aviation sector, not just Cebu Pacific. Today, Philippine carriers are blocked from expanding flights to some countries because of the significant safety concern. The lifting will allow us to add more flights,†Reyes said.
He pointed out that the lifting of the ban would allow Philippine carriers, including Cebu Pacific to mount additional flights to the US as the airline is set to start its long-haul operations through a direct flight between Manila and Dubai on Oct. 7.
Cebu Pacific vice president for marketing and distribution Candice Iyog said in a text message that the lifting of the ban would allow the airline to serve more Filipinos living and working abroad and at the same time help boost tourism in the country.
“Cebu Pacific welcomes this development and continues to support the government’s efforts that will allow Philippine carriers to fly to more destinations in the US as well as Europe and serve more overseas Filipinos and tourists,†Iyog stressed.
There are about 10 million Filipinos working and living abroad while the Department of Tourism is looking at hitting 10 million tourists visiting the Philippines by 2016.
Zest Airways Inc. chairman Donald Dee said in a text message that the airline is hoping that the lifting of the ban would be done within the first half of the year to boost the government’s efforts to lure more tourists into the Philippines.
“I hope that soon means within the first semester of 2013. We can expect more tourists to come with the announcement that we are back to Category 1 status and therefore much safer to come to the Philippines,†Dee stressed.
Philippine Airlines (PAL) of tycoon Lucio Tan and diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) is also looking forward to the lifting of the Category 2 status imposed by the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) on CAAP in 2008.
DOTC Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya reported over the weekend that the Aquino administration is confident the ban imposed on Philippine airlines would finally be lifted after the country passed the recently concluded safety audit by the ICAO from Feb. 18 to 22.
“The results were positive. The ICVM team was satisfied with their observations or findings on CAAP’s efforts to comply with international safety standards and no longer sees significant safety concerns,†Abaya stressed.
The mission is set submit the findings of the audit to the ICAO headquarters in Montreal, Canada. It focused on two critical elements including the OPS 1 Certification of Airlines in the Philippines and the Air/7 registration of Philippine-registered civil aviation aircraft as three other critical elements including legal, organization and licensing that were already satisfactorily addressed last October.
With the lifting of the safety concerns, CAAP could now focus on regaining the US FAA Category 1 rating. Category 2 status is issued by the FAA to the civil aviation authorities of countries that are non-compliant to ICAO Standard and Recommended Practices (SARPs) on international civil aviation safety.
In 2008, the safety rating of the Philippines was downgraded by the US FAA upon the recommendation of the ICAO to Category 2 from Category 1after CAAP failed to comply with safety standards for the oversight of air carrier operations.
Furthermore, the 27-member European Commission decided in April 2010 to impose a ban on Philippine carriers from European airspace for the failure of the CAAP to reform the country’s civil aviation system.