Foreign carriers have access -- PAL

BusinessWorld
Posted at 12/02/2010 11:48 AM | Updated as of 12/02/2010 1:34 PM

MANILA, Philippines - Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) said yesterday an “open skies” policy should be “fair and reciprocal,” and should “not unduly place local carriers at a disadvantage vis-a-vis foreign airlines.”

In a statement, PAL said that during a recent public hearing conducted by the House of Representatives’ transportation committee, it pointed out that foreign carriers “enjoy adequate access to Philippine skies, debunking claims there is lack of airline seats to accommodate tourists.”

“What the country really needs are more investments in infrastructure, a stable peace and order situation, and positive image abroad to attract tourists,” said Ma. Socorro Gonzaga, PAL senior assistant vice-president for external affairs. “It’s not the number of airline seats that is the behind the lack of tourist interest in the Philippines but the country’s negative image abroad, specially in the area of peace and order and security,” she added.

Ms. Gonzaga said there are 47.4 million seats available to foreign and local carriers at present.

“However, of these 47.4 million available seats, only 10.97 million seats -- or 23% of total entitlements -- were used by foreign and local carriers last year. Of the 10.97 million passengers that came to the country by air in 2009, only 2.9 million were tourists,” she said.

She said Clark in Pampanga has 25.6 million in seat entitlements yearly, Cebu, 20.7 million; Davao, 20.3 million, and Kalibo in Aklan, Bohol, Palawan and Laoag, 19.6 million.

“In Manila, there are 21.2 million seat entitlements available yearly.

The sum is more than 47.4 million seats because many of the entitlements may be used for different airports, hence the overlap,” she said.

Last month, the government said it would further liberalize the civil aviation industry to increase tourist arrivals. The move is being touted as the long-term solution to the financial woes of PAL, which is facing labor problems.

In October, the Labor department allowed the Lucio C. Tan-led airline to outsource three non-core units to cut costs.