Sunday, 17 October 2010 03:17
BusinessMirror
AVIATION experts from the European Union (EU) are arriving on Monday to assess the performance of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap). And, on December 7, a team from the International Civil Aviation Authority (Icao) would follow up with a “technical audit.”
“The audit will confirm that the concerted efforts, sacrifices and resources that we made are on the right track toward professionalism and solid foundation of the Authority,” said Caap Director General Alfonso Cusi.
The experts are from the European Commission (EC), member-states of the EU and the European Aviation Safety Agency (Easa).
Cusi, in a press conference on Friday, said the EU experts are visiting, “specifically to assess the progress achieved by the Caap in addressing the Corrective Action Plan identified by the Icao, the US Federal Aviation Administration [FAA] and the Easa.”
They will also look into the ability of the Philippines to ensure the effective oversight of all or part of the air carriers under its supervision, and to assess the resources and competence of certain air operators certified by the Caap.
Following their assessment last year, the EU barred Philippine Airlines (PAL) and Cebu Pacific (CEB) from entering the European airspace.
Although the two air carriers have more than proven their capabilities as adhering to the standards set by the Icao when their officials visited the EU in March, they were nevertheless included in the ban to fly to Europe—a useless ban since these carriers currently do not have flights to the EU.
However, a subsequent announcement by the EU went a step further and prohibited EU citizens from using Philippine air carriers until the Caap had shown that it has complied with the “significant safety concerns [SSC]” found during their earlier assessment.
The Icao technical audit will focus on the areas of legislation, organization, personnel licensing, aircraft operations, airworthiness and the SSC.
Cusi is confident that after the visit, PAL and CEB would be removed from the EU blacklist this December.
Once this is accomplished, he feels confident that the country would then regain its Category 1 status sometime early next year.
“The Icao will validate the status of the implementation of the Corrective Action Plans that were previously submitted to have fully addressed the respective protocol questions identified in the findings,” he added.
Cusi’s optimism was shared by the Department of Tourism.
In a speech before the 36th Philippine Business Conference, Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim said the government is confident of getting out of the blacklist of the US FAA “by March next year once the audit is completed this month.”
Lim added, “On the FAA downgrade, and the EU travel ban, measures have been taken by the Caap to get us out of the black mark by March next year.”
He said an audit is being undertaken this month, which the Caap is confident of finally passing.
“The issue of hiring the appropriate technical personnel at their market rate has been resolved,” Lim said.
Caap, an agency under the Department of Transportation and Communications, is responsible for implementing policies on civil aviation to assure safe, economic and efficient air travel.
The downgrade by the US FAA hurt PAL, the only local airline that flies to the United States, but the flag carrier is not the only casualty; experts said it might also lead to huge losses for the trade and tourism industries, as it would create a negative impression for the country.
Among the FAA’s concerns were outdated aviation regulations, poor training programs for safety inspectors, and substandard licensing for airframe and engine inspectors.
In the FAA audit, the Philippines passed only the first requirement, which is the existence of a law on civil aviation.
Getting off the FAA downgrade would help the government attain its target of reaching 6 million tourist arrivals from the current 3 million tourists in six years, or after President Aquino’s term. --R. Mercene
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