CAB grants 30-day extension for 3rd Emirates flight to Dubai

MANILA, Philippines - The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) gave Emirates another 30-day extension for its third daily flight between Manila and Dubai despite strong opposition from national flag carrier Philippine Airlines Inc. (PAL) and budget airline Cebu Air Inc. (Cebu Pacific).

CAB executive director Carmelo Arcilla said in a text message that regulator granted the third extension for the third daily flight of Emirates for the Manila-Dubai route until Jan. 26 so as not to inconvenience overseas Filipinos workers (OFWs) in the Middle East.

 “The Board’s action is premised on the need to assure that passengers, especially the big volume of OFWs traveling  to and from the Philippines during the holiday season would not be inconvenienced or dislocated,” Arcilla said.

He pointed out that the third 30-day extension would be the final extension given to the Gulf carrier.

 “The Board granted Emirates on an extra bilateral basis a final and inextendible period of 30 days, or until Jan. 26 to operate a third daily frequency,” he said.

CAB turned down last October the petition of Emirates to use the unutilized frequency of PAL until March next year. The Middle Eastern carrier filed an appeal before the CAB.

While the appeal is pending, CAB granted Emirates a 30-day extension to continue its third daily flight between Manila and Dubai until Nov. 26. The regulator granted a second 30-day extension allowing the Middle Eastern carrier to mount three daily flights in the route until Dec. 26.

However, Emirates through Puno & Puno Law Offices filed a petition before CAB last Dec. 15 seeking a third 30-day extension or until Jan. 26 for its third flight to and from Dubai via the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

In its petition, Emirates argued that public interest would be served by the extension of its third daily flight as there is a persistent high demand on the Manila-Dubai route as evidenced by a very high seat factor average of 80 percent from December 2013 to March 2014.

The Middle Eastern carrier urged CAB not to put the travelling public particularly 850,000 OFWs in Dubai at risk of being unable to travel during the peak season.

 “There is no legitimate reason for the CAB to cause unnecessary inconvenience to the OFWs and inbound tourists to the Philippines by stopping Emirates’ third daily frequency,” the airlines warned.

It argued that its 21 weekly flights between Manila and Dubai has no negative impact on carriers in the Philippines as both PAL and Cebu Pacific managed to launch flights between Manila and Dubai.