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CLARK FREEPORT: Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) open
skies, yes. Full liberalization at the Diosdado Macapagal
International Airport (DMIA) and Subic International Airport, no.
The National Association of Independent Travel
Agencies (Naitas) on Tuesday rallied behind the Asean open-skies
agreement, but in the same light sharply denounced anew the Freedom
to Fly Coalition (FFC) for espousing full liberalization at the DMIA
and Subic International Airport as they said that such would only be
detrimental to Filipino carriers.
Robert Lim Joseph, the association’s chair
emeritus, lamented that foreign airlines even want to go domestic
and poach into the passenger traffic of Filipino airlines.
He lauded Transportation and Communications
Secretary Leandro Mendoza for initiating the multilateral accord
among member-countries of the Asean that seeks to create a single
aviation market in the region by 2015.
“As we have stated before, we’re not against
open skies provided it is reciprocal and beneficial to both
parties,” Joseph said. “That is the letter and spirit of the
Asean open-skies policy.”
He said Singapore Airlines, one of the biggest
investors in DMIA, can mount unlimited flights under the existing
Executive Order (EO) 500-A, but supporters of the open-skies policy
are pushing for the re-implementation of the fifth freedom rights,
which would authorize a foreign carrier to pick up passengers in its
country of origin, bring them to Clark, pick up passengers there and
then ferry these to a third country and back to Clark before going
back to the country of origin.
As further example, Joseph cited a Singapore
Airlines flight that can take Clark-Los Angeles and Clark-Tokyo or
Clark-Seoul and back to Clark.
Under EO 500-B, the association warned that air
rights would be granted unilaterally to foreign carriers with no
reciprocity.
Any foreign carrier from a country with existing
air service agreements with the Philippines, whether designated or
not, can avail of the unlimited air rights.
The groups lobbying for full liberalization in
the local aviation industry had linked open skies to the growth of
travel and tourism sectors, “failing to comprehend that these
foreign airlines will only support their respective country’s
tourism programs.”
During a Senate hearing, the FFC admitted to
being funded by foreign entities and having links with the US-funded
AGILE (Accelerating Growth, Investment and Liberalization with
Equity) program.
“Under the guise of luring tourists, this
lobby group has been actively campaigning for full liberalization in
the aviation sector since 1999,” Joseph stressed.
-- Francis Earl A. Cueto
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