THE Philippines is planning to hold air talks with the United States and nine other countries to increase flight frequencies and expand tourism opportunities, according to the Department of Transportation.
“To improve international connectivity in the post-pandemic era, the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) is planning to conduct air consultation talks with various governments, such as the United States, Australia, Thailand, [the] United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Ethiopia, India, Oman and Seychelles,” Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said.
The Philippine Air Services Negotiating Panel is composed of officials from the CAB, Departments of Tourism, Transportation and Foreign Affairs, as well as from the Clark International Airport Corp. and representatives of local airline companies.
He said air talks usually lead to expanded air services to new destinations.
“Through these air talks, we intend to open new international routes or add more flight frequencies on existing routes to provide travelers flexibility in going to more international destinations while attracting foreign tourists to explore the country,” Bautista explained.
He said the last time the Philippines conducted air talks with the US was more than 20 years ago.
“Of course, we want to expand our operations,” Bautista said. “Right now, we only operate in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York.”
Last July, the Philippines and South Korea agreed to increase plane seats to 30,000 per week.
For seven years since the last memorandum of understanding was signed in 2017, the designated airlines of the Philippines and Korea could operate up to only 20,000 weekly seats each from Manila to points in Korea and vice versa.
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