PAL wants to double flights to Canada

MANILA, Philippines - National flag carrier Philippine Airlines Inc. (PAL), jointly owned by taipan Lucio Tan and diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC), wants to double its flight frequencies to Canada to be able to serve more passengers.

 PAL president and chief operating officer Ramon S. Ang said the airline would seek the green light from the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) to double the number of flights to Canada to 14 from seven after the successful conclusion of air talks last week.

 â€œWith the successful conclusion of the government- to- government air talks, we look forward to flying twice daily to Canada and offering our passengers greater flexibility and choice,” Ang said.

PAL currently flies seven times weekly to Canada via Vancouver and Toronto .

 The Philippines signed its fifth air service agreement this year after successfully concluding talks with Canada last May 28.

 CAB executive director Carmelo Arcilla said the new agreement amended the existing Philippine – Canada Air Services Agreement signed last December of 2008 by increasing the frequency entitlement for each country to 14 flights a week from seven flights a week.

 Both countries also agreed to increased fifth freedom to five per week from four per week and to allow airlines from the Philippines and Canada to enter into a third country code sharing.

 The fifth freedom rights allow airlines from a resident country to fly passengers to third countries from a country where it has an existing air services agreement.

 On the other hand, third-country code-sharing allows airlines to market indirect services between two countries via cooperative agreements with third-country airlines.