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THE Philippine air panel and its Netherlands counterpart recently
signed an air service agreement (ASA) to increase flight
entitlements going to Europe, the Civil Aeronautics Board said.
The new ASA will increase flight entitlements
from four flights weekly between Amsterdam and Manila to seven
weekly flights.
The agreement, which was signed Friday night,
also allows the Netherlands to operate seven weekly flights in
Clark, Pampanga.
The Philippine government received a reciprocal
right to fly to Amsterdam.
Besides flight entitlements, the two countries
also secured 700 tons cargo per week for the Clark route and 250
tons per week to Manila.
Porvenir Porciuncula, Civil Aeronautics Board
deputy executive director and head of economic planning, said in a
telephone interview that the additional flights to Amsterdam are
needed to continue the operations of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.
“They are worried [about] the high cost of
operations . . . they are not getting enough returns to sustain
their operations. That is why they need additional flights to
sustain their operations,” Porciuncula said.
In March, German carrier Lufthansa Airlines
stopped flying from Manila to Europe.
The ASA is expected to pave the way for more
tourist and overseas Filipino workers traffic between Manila and
Europe and neigh-boring countries.
The head of the Philippine negotiating panel was
Transport Undersecretary for Civil Aviation Doroteo Reyes 2nd. His
counterpart on the Netherlands side was Dr. Rene Sennes.
Last month, the Philippines and Hong Kong agreed
to increase seat entitlements to 23,800 per week for each state. Of
the total, 15,000 had been allocated to Manila, 6,300 to Clark and
the remaining 2,500 to Cebu.
In addition, the Canadian government has given
the Philippines two additional frequencies from Manila to the North
American country or from point to point only.
Canada also approved five frequencies weekly for
cargo flights from Manila to Canada with no capacity restrictions.
An air agreement between Macau and the
Philippines was concluded last month, bringing a total seat
entitlement of 13,100 a week from 850.
Of the total, 3,600 seats will be
allocated each for Manila and Macau; 6,000 seats for Clark and Subic;
and another 3,500 seats weekly for carriers outside Manila.
-- Darwin G. Amojelar
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