Saturday, December 15, 2007 Local airline supports approval of trade pact
CEBU Pacific Air (CEB) is crossing its fingers for the ratification of the Japan-Philippine Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) as the airline company is mulling to open a direct flight between Cebu and Japan.
“We are having problems right now regarding the entitlement issues,” said Candice Iyog, marketing director for CEB.
Iyog said the Gokong-wei-led airline company is hoping to benefit from the bilateral agreements between the Philippines and Japan, referring to the ongoing controversy on whether to approve the JPEPA.
The Jpepa, signed by the governments of Japan and the Philippines in December 2002, aims to facilitate and promote the free trans-border flow of goods, persons, services and capital between the two countries.
However, the pact has been subjected to scrutiny in the Senate and by other labor groups led by the Junk Jpepa Coalition, laying out the disadvantages of the Jpepa terms to the Philippines.
In an interview, Iyog said CEB’s interest to open a direct flight from Cebu to Japan is currently hampered by entitlement issues and flying rights.
Promotion
At present, CEB is operating a total of 122 flights a week from its Cebu hub, 27 of which are international direct flights, including the recently launched flight from Cebu to Taipei.
“We are strongly supporting (efforts in) promoting Cebu for international tourism, we are going to make Cebu more accessible, to make it a more attractive destination for tourism and trade,” Iyog said, adding that the level of interest for Cebu Pacific to open a Cebu-Japan direct flight is “very strong.”
Thus, the airline is hoping to get favorable benefits from the proposed Philippine-Japan partnership agreement, as this also includes air entitlement bilateral deals between both countries, she said.
Earlier, Japanese Association of Travel Industry in Cebu president Hashi-moto Masataka said the province has the potential to draw more Japanese tourists through direct accessibility, like offering access from Osaka to Cebu.
He said there is a need for Cebu to increase its air transportation access to Japan in order to re-develop the Japanese market.
The DOT 7 reported that Japanese arrivals to Cebu from January to July this year has grown to 77, 423, making them the second top market visitors in the province next to Korea. (MMM)
