Lifting of travel bans to RP pushed

Aviation authorities are set to ask American, Japanese and Chinese airline companies to help persuade their governments to lift the travel bans imposed on the Philippines.

Transportation and Communications Secretary Pantaleon Alvarez said yesterday he has ordered the Phi-lippine panel in upcoming air route negotiations to work for the lifting of travel bans to help the economy.

"It would be inconsistent for these airline companies to operate the Philippine route despite existing travel bans by their countries of origin. Our solution is for them to ensure the lifting of the bans, rather than scrapping their Philippine routes," Alvarez said in a statement.

He said they are particularly eager to have the travel bans issued by the United States, Japan and China lifted.

Most of the tourists who visit the country are from the US and Japan while the Department of Tourism (DOT) is now targeting the Chinese tourism market.

The three countries have advised their citizens not to travel to the Philippines because of the local security situation but they failed to identify common areas of concern, Alvarez said.

Alvarez clarified, however, that aviation authorities are not tying the lifting of the travel bans to the foreign airlines’ rights to Philippine routes.

"I am not tying up the demand for the lifting of the travel bans to their continued use of Philippine routes, but I think this can help," he said.

He also acknowledged the possibility that some of the countries may opt to cut their air links to the country because of the perceived security threats.

"We will also prepare for that eventuality," he said, vowing the Philippine panel would insist on demanding reciprocal rights for the Philippines.

Aside from the three countries, air route negotiations are also up for Brunei, New Zealand, Thailand, Vietnam, Bahrain, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and other Middle East countries.