EU Qualifies PAL as Aviation Authority Airlines in the Philippines

The European Union travel ban to the Philippines has been lifted and the Philippine Airlines is now allowed to resume flights to the 28-nation bloc

According to the Dept. of Tourism on Thursday, this meant that finally, the EU has recognized the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines as an aviation authority that competently qualifies airlines in the Philippines.

Secretary Ramon Jimenez, Jr. said, in a statement that this was an opportunity for Philippine tourism as PAL will be able to effectively augment the existing services by foreign carriers that cater to tourists in the region.

“(Britain), Germany and France are among the key European markets with stable influx to the country,” Jimenez said.

“European tourists have already registered 213,598 visitors from January to May this year, which marks an 8.5 percent increase from the 196,794 European visutors registered for the same period in 2012,” he added.

Jimenez further explained that the DOT would therefore expect a significant increase from these markets, to include those from adjacent countries, once the PAL flights are made available.

“We congratulate the DOTC, CAAP, and PAL for tirelessly working to regain the EU’s confidence to ‘effectively comply with relevant aviation safety regulations’,” Jimenez said.

“Looking forward, we are optimistic and confident that other Philippine carriers will progress in their committed endeavor to address their respective safety issues that would allow them to gain access to tourist-rich Europe,” he added.

He also said that the DOT looks forward to improvements in airport infrastructure development, aviation safety and security and air services agreements

Aside from that, he said international air seats and connectivity will be greatly enhanced, in addition to the ongoing internal development work on infrastructure, destination and facilities to meet its 2016 goal of 10 million foreign tourists. (Azer Parrocha/PNA)HBC