Saturday, May 03, 2008 Arroyo urged to adopt Open Skies policy for DMIA
CLARK FREEPORT -- Fearing of loosing flights to the Middle East, an advocacy group urged President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Friday to adopt an Open Skies policy for Clark to save the airline industry.
Renato Diaz, chairman of the Center for Strategic Initiatives, reiterated that the government should adopt an open skies policy for the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) by signing Executive Order (EO) 500B.
The EO would allow foreign air carriers to operate in the Philippines especially those Middle East airlines to benefit the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs).
Diaz said the lack of airline seats for OFWs is seriously affecting the country's ability to supply the rapidly increasing market for our skilled workers.
He added that various companies that contract labor have been complaining of lack of seats and airline flights. They are afraid that the Philippines will lose to other countries deploying to the Middle East because they cannot book flights to meet contractual obligations.
The government should announce that DMIA will adopt an open skies policies in Clark and other regional airports capable of receiving international flights until 2010, he said.
Last April 4, President Arroyo led the inauguration of the Expanded Terminal of DMIA, which is expected to increase passenger capacity to two million annually.
The Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC) is embarking on a project for the development of the Terminal 2, which seeks to further increase the airport's passenger capacity to eight million annually.
DMIA had been declared by the President as the premier airport of the country.
The government should allow more flights to and from Asean airports to DMIA and Clark to alleviate the shortage.
This will allow the OFW's flexibility of getting connecting flights in Asean airports to their final destination.
The President has authorized the establishment of a One Stop processing office for the documentation requirements of OFWs in the Clark Freeport, thus making it more convenient as the point of departure for most of our OFW's, Diaz said.
He also said flights to the Middle East are limited due to air rights wherein the Philippine Airlines does not use their entitlements and instead are selling these to other foreign airlines under code sharing arrangements, thus reducing the available capacity.
Diaz is proposing a policy change so that local airlines may utilize their entitlements. The policy should be that if they did not fly for the past six months then other local air carriers might be designated by government to use these entitlements.
No local carrier is able to provide the equivalent flights, then the foreign carrier can be granted these frequencies and any income should go to the Philippine government and not to the local airline.
Diaz also said the government should allow foreign carriers to offer scheduled charter flights to and from Clark to the Middle East airports. This, he added, will provide more airline seats for OFWs until regular flights are added.
He also said that DMIA should be made the primary international gateway for the Philippines by 2010 to enable various stakeholders such as airlines and support services, travel industry, logistics industry, export sector, and the public to adjust and plan for the shift.
This will serve as a strong signal of the Arroyo administration's commitment to support the OFW's sector and provide employment opportunities for people.
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