Direct flights to Europe end

MANILA, Philippines - It used to be the last one flying. 

After “stubbornly” flying non-stop from Manila to Europe for eight years, even when other airlines dropped out one by one from the route, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines bid a sentimental adieu Sunday to its 14-hour direct Manila-Amsterdam flight.

Blaming “current economic circumstances,” specifically the high taxes imposed on the airline by the Philippine government, KLM general manager for South China Sea Cees Ursem said it had to transform its current non-stop operations between Manila and Amsterdam to one with an intermediate stop in Taipei to pick up passengers.

“We are very sad but we had to take action,” Ursem said.

Before KLM dropped out of the non-stop Manila-Europe route, Lufthansa of Germany ceased its direct flights from Manila to Europe in 2008.

“We were stubborn and wanted to keep the Philippines on the map with our direct flights to Europe, the biggest investor in the Philippines,” Ursem said in a press conference in Makati yesterday.

He said the taxes that were a “big burden” on KLM’s Manila operations included the three percent common carrier tax and the around 2.5 percent gross Philippine billing tax. He said Taipei and other cities do not impose such taxes on the airline.

He is optimistic that measures emanating from Congress will put an end to the alleged excess taxes imposed on foreign carriers. But until these are signed into law and the airline sees Manila as another gainful route, KLM had to stop its direct flights from Manila to Europe.

“The airline is flexible and we are open to the resumption of our non-stop flights in the future,” he said.

Under the new flight schedule, KLM shifts from a morning departure to nightly flights, with a two and a half hour stopover in Taipei. The flight arrives in Amsterdam at 6:10 a.m. the next day.

KLM says its new catchphrase is “Good night Manila, good morning Europe.”

This new route is a “historic move in KLM’s 60 years of uninterrupted operations in the Philippines,” Ursem pointed out.

Flights will be operated on a Boeing 777-200 and there will be no change of planes in Taipei.