AIR TALKS with Taiwan have been scheduled before the end of the year, a Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) official said, with the Philippines looking to expand its share of the tourist traffic.
“We already have scheduled [for the air negotiations] on Dec. 8,” CAB executive director Carmelo L. Arcilla said in a telephone interview on Friday.
“[However], we still do not have an estimate for the number of seats we will be asking from them,” he added.
Taiwan is one of the Philippines’ top five tourism markets with a 4.43% share of arrivals. Of the 1.91 million visitors in the first half, a total of 84,979 were from Taiwan, according to Tourism department data.
“We want to expand this market,” Mr. Arcilla said.
Executive Order 29, signed by President Benigno S.C. Aquino III on March 14, authorized the CAB and negotiators to “pursue more aggressively the international civil aviation liberalization policy.”
Malacañang’s “pocket-open skies” directive aims to boost tourism by allowing foreign carriers increased access to the Philippines’ secondary gateways.
Regulators have since granted unlimited air rights to airlines from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea and Vietnam to all points in the country except for Metro Manila.
In exchange, the Philippines has secured entitlements such as 2,520 additional seats per week on the Manila-Kuala Lumpur route; two additional flights a week on the Manila-Colombo, route; 450 additional seats per week between Manila and Papua New Guinea; and 650 additional seats on the Manila-Ho Chi Minh route.
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Source: Business World, October 31, 2011
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