Airlines, Airplanes and Airports - Compiled Threads [Archive] - Page 23

kiretoce

March 9th, 2007, 06:56 AM

Open up the skies

Hong Kong is a few pieces of rock. It is devoid of any natural resources. Yet the territory today ranks among the most prosperous places in the world. Hong Kong’s success is rooted in the institutions of rule of law and economic freedom. The territory did not negotiate any free trade deal. It just declared it unilaterally, and the rest is history.

What, I wonder, does it take for this government to fully understand this simple concept: open up. Stop interfering in business and how it should operate. Market forces and competition will do the job far more effectively.

The particular example I want to use is “open skies.” Just because the rest of the world wants bilateral agreements, why should we? I venture to suggest that this control on airline flights is as archaic and out of place as regulation of the telecommunication industry used to be. No one disputes the tremendous growth telecom witnessed when business was able to operate in a free market. Why should airlines be any different?

We want tourists and businessmen to come. Let them— easily, cheaply. Open competition will bring airfares down even further. Look at what it’s done already. Today with cutthroat competition among the six airlines that fly to Singapore, the fare can go as low as $30 for no-frills discounted flights whereas normal flights cost around $250. What could further deregulation do?

Yet, what does the government do? It re-imposes restrictions it had earlier lifted. The President issued Executive Order 500 in January last year to allow the entry of low-cost carriers into Clark (Sorry, Diosdado Macapagal International Airport—can you imagine a foreigner trying to pronounce, let alone remember that?) in a bid to make it a new premiere international gateway and logistics hub. But barely seven months later, EO 500-A was issued, again restricting flights into Clark. Budget airlines such as Tiger Airways and AirAsia had to be designated by their country of origin before they could enter Clark. And prospective designated low-cost carriers could no longer pick up passengers at Clark, then fly to a third country.

The Philippines saw something of a boom in tourism last year. A major part of that was the frequent cheap flights into Clark. Some 470,000 people entered the Philippines through Clark in 2006. Only 50,000 did in 2003 when EO 500 didn’t exist yet and flights were still restricted. So why would you revert to a policy that had not worked?

If it’s to protect local airlines, fine. But do remember that protecting local businesses, in any industry, has been proven to be a failed policy. Philippine Air Lines, Air Philippines and Cebu Pacific can survive and even prosper in a competitive environment. They are well-run airlines that know how to treat passengers well. I can suggest a few international airlines, including my country’s, that have lost that.

Yet, satisfying the customers’ needs is what it’s all about. I’ve flown on all three Philippine airlines, I’ve never had any reason to complain. In fact, I can only praise them. They do put the customer first. Knowing PAL and how well it operates, I think it can readily survive in open competition. I’d far rather fly the “friendly skies” of PAL than the uncaring skies of some other airlines that fly in here. In today’s modern world you don’t need a national airline, you need lots of visitors spending money. So they should not be scared of competition.

They can match and beat it. I saw this in the sugar industry in Australia in the 60’s. It was inefficient, heavily subsidized and getting nowhere. The government told them that in x number of years, the subsidies would be removed, sink or swim. The industry took up the challenge and became one of the most efficient sugar producers in the world.

Open flights into the Philippines and the three won’t lose. Their international flights will attract because of the more personalized service they provide. They’ll probably even expand their businesses as far more tourists would want to come in. Their friends, who were able to get in, would tell them what a great experience they had. Domestically, I accept limited time of restriction to only local airlines, but to be phased out over time. The focus must always be on what’s best for the customer. This is what globalization is forcing upon us, whether we like it or not.

I believe the Philippine three can meet the challenge if forced to do so. Does the government have the strength of will to force it? Do they want the best deal for customers and an open invite for visitors, or do they want to artificially protect some Philippine businesses and hobble the emergent, exciting growth in tourism?

It’s a time to be bold, to be different, to think outside the box. The Philippines attracted 2.85 million tourists last year, a big improvement on prior years, and a credit to the Secretary’s efforts. But elsewhere in Asia the numbers were far higher.

Tourist Arrivals in selected Asian countries, 2005

Country (in million)
China 46.8
Malaysia 16.4
Thailand 12.0
Korea 6.0
Indonesia 5.0
Vietnam 3.5
Philippines 2.6
Cambodia 1.4

Source: World Tourism Organisation

The Philippines needs to do something different to stand out. Easy access would be a good start. Open the skies, set the example to the myopic world. Forget bilateral agreements. What little our airlines lose would be more than made up for in the much larger benefits that would accrue to the tourism sector and the economy generally. If the restrictions stay, the Philippine Airlines, I suppose, might get more passengers as they have no option. Their employees and its shareholders benefit, and the government gets some corporate and personal income taxes. If open skies is the policy hotels, resorts, bus companies, car rentals, restaurants, FilipinOpen up the skieso handicraft makers, food and drink suppliers and almost anybody else you can think of benefit. While the government gets lots of tax revenues from them all— VAT and income tax.

Opening up industries just, provably, works.

The Philippines is poised to be a medical tourism center. Thailand generates US$85 million in medical tourism receipts annually. The Philippines is next to nothing now. The secret to success in this arena, apart from world class doctors and nurses (which we have) and the most modern equipment (which we also now have) is to have cheap airfares so that the total package cost is less than just the medical services in someone’s home country.

The huge influx of tourists in the past year or so has been, as much as anything, because of the cheap budget fares and frequent flights. The deals were just too good to ignore.

The beauty of the Philippines and Filipinos only comes later — when you’re here.

So E.O. 500A should be replaced with the National Competitiveness Council’s E.O. 500B. To restrict flights into Clark makes no sense if this economy is to truly grow.

bustero

March 9th, 2007, 07:08 AM

^^hear hear

buwisit mga taipan na iyan, mayaman na, nambrabraso pa, stop all this nonsense of protectionism,

ay naku we should have a way of pressuring malacanang on this, di kaya ng pampanga or davao chamberof commerce to

bustero

March 9th, 2007, 07:15 AM

There is as according to the blueprint. If ever air traffic volume increases, there should be no problem with adding up a parallel runway since the government gave leeway for another runway.

There is also a plan to create a taxiway.

Near 3kms but I'm not sure about the exact figure.

Excellent planning then. Even up to a parallel runway you say. Good Job. I hope it includes enough space for lengthening too should it be needed.

btw. Bernie/Chymera our Iloilo stalwarts please post your best pix here in this thread, this is an impressive airport we should share
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=12081534#post12081534

Lagi tayong dehado in showing our best side, yet this is a spanking brand new airport and it looks not only world class but great!

Para naman they don't always think of us a basket case but of nice progressive airports and travel too. ty.

whyte

March 9th, 2007, 07:16 AM

Excellent. This airport is really impressive, can it be expanded in the future?

pwedeng pwede

http://i15.tinypic.com/40agqat.jpg

:lol:

IMPRESARIO

March 9th, 2007, 01:37 PM

^^nice! hehehe

xXx carlos xXx

March 12th, 2007, 06:52 AM

PAL plans a mixed Airbus and Boeing fleet totalling 40 aircraft within five years

Last year’s healthy income – $28.7 million compared with the previous years’ $17.6 million came on revenues that grew 15% to $1.24 billion – was a turning point. Driven by strong performances by both passenger and cargo businesses, it was the best result since PAL last reported a surplus exceeding $20 million in 1993, when it booked $40.5 million.

Virtually all key performance indices, in the year ended March 31, including those measuring capacity, traffic carriage and load factor, improved year-on-year, buoyed by economic recovery in PAL’s biggest markets: the Philippines, the U.S. and Japan. It also made inroads in booming new markets, such as China. Last November, the carrier launched services to Beijing, its third point on the mainland after Guangzhou and Xiamen.

In the current year, Bautista expects to come close to matching the 2006 result. “It may be a little below because of increased fuel prices, but in terms of revenue it will be growth, to perhaps more than $1.2 billion.”

The only thing holding PAL back right now is lack of capacity. With its A340s flying 15 to 16 hours a day and its B747s nearly 14 hours, it has one of the highest aircraft utilization rates in the industry. It needs more aircraft to increase existing frequencies and add new destinations in the U.S., India and, probably, Europe.

Bautista has already moved to resolve the issue. Late in 2006, he signed a purchase agreement with Boeing for two B777-300ERs for delivery in 2010, with options on another two for delivery in 2011. In addition, he has signed a Letter of Intent with GECAS for the lease of two more B777-300ERs, to be delivered in 2009.

Currently PAL operates a fleet of 32 aircraft – five B747s, four A340s, eight A330s, 11 A320/A319s and four B737s. Another A319 will arrive in May. “We are looking at a fleet of around 40 in four or five years’ time. That takes into account retirements. We will have 20 A319 and A320s, eight A330s, four A340s, four B747s plus at least four B777s,” he said.

The plan is to use the additional capacity to dramatically increase penetration in the North American market. Services to Los Angeles and San Francisco (currently nine and eight services a week respectively) will be raised to double daily. Flights to Vancouver will increase from four a week to daily. The Canadian service also operates through to Las Vegas, but Bautista wants the additional flights to continue to San Diego, adding another U.S. destination to the network.

“There is a clamour from the Filipino community for PAL to fly to San Diego,” he said. “Right now, passengers from there have to take maybe a small aircraft to Los Angeles, or a bus, to connect with our LA flight. There is a big Filipino community in San Diego.”

On the agenda as well are daily flights to Beijing and Xiamen, up from four and five weekly at present. Additional capacity into Australia is being considered, as well as new flights to India. “We don’t fly there now, but we have landing entitlements to seven destinations,” said Bautista. “Obviously, it is a huge growth market and right now there are no direct flights between Manila and India. People have to go via Singapore, Hong Kong or Bangkok.”

A possible return to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia is also being reviewed. Once a strong player in the Gulf region, PAL has reduced its presence in the last decade, dropping Dubai and Jeddah in 1998, then Dammam in 2001. Finally, in March 2006, it dropped Riyadh in the face of a massive oversupply of seats in the market. It now code-shares on routes to the Middle East with Qatar Airways, Emirates Airline and Gulf Air.

Flights to Europe remain under review. Bautista said the problem was not only lack of aircraft, but the cost of operations. Over the last four years, four European carriers operating direct flights between Manila and European capitals have either stopped or reduced services: British Airways in 2002, Swiss International in April 2004, Air France in November 2004 and Lufthansa German Airlines in April 2005. But it remains a tough route to service successfully.

'Our [domestic] competitors are offering very cheap fares. They are trying to buy the market. In spite of that our passenger numbers keep on growing.'
Jaime Bautista

“There is a still lot of competition. Fares are very low and cost of operations is very high to Europe. If conditions improve and we were able to charge higher fares and if fuel prices go down, perhaps we can consider flying to Europe. Our preferred destinations would be London or Frankfurt, but right now we don’t really have additional capacity,” he said.

At least Bautista is no longer short of pilots. Last year, the PAL president complained that dozens of cockpit crew had left, poached by the fast growing operators of the Gulf region and India.

“The pilot shortage is no longer an issue,” he said. “We introduced a pilot retention programme. We have given them a good salary increase. We have given them better retirement benefits. That has stemmed the flow. I am getting feelers from pilots who left us that they want to come back, but right now we have enough.”

While all is well in the cockpit, back in the passenger cabin there is much work to do. The airline’s B747s are being reconfigured – at a cost of $12 million per aircraft – to a two-class layout, with first class being eliminated. There will be new seats in business and economy, with corporate travellers getting cocoon-style sleeper seats. Audio Video On Demand (AVOD) is being installed throughout. The number of seats will be reduced from 433 to 426, but there will be more in business class, increasing the higher yield component.

Like all airlines, staying significantly in the black has not been easy. PAL’s expenses jumped by $153 million, or 14%, to a total of $1.22 billion last year, due largely to the fuel costs, now 30% of the carrier’s expenses. PAL hedges around 60% of its fuel needs.

Despite this, the airline managed to keep outgoings in check by cutting costs and improving systems. For instance, its revenue management, reservations and ticketing systems are now configured to drive down distribution costs. Electronic ticketing is available on more than 70% of PAL flights, including all domestic routes.

Domestically, PAL has been facing tough competition, particularly from rivals like Cebu Pacific. “Passenger traffic has grown by almost 5% compared with last year although yields on domestic routes are going down because of competition,” said Bautista. “Our competitors are offering very cheap fares, as little as one peso, 10 pesos or 99 pesos. They are trying to buy the market. In spite of that our passenger numbers keep on growing”. And, no, he won’t match bargain basement fares.

What Bautista has done is move to revamp the domestic fleet. The first of 20 A320 and A319 aircraft, an $840 million order placed in December 2005, arrived in September, with two more joining the fleet by the end of 2006. Seven will be delivered in 2007 and five more in 2008, with the remainder coming through 2009 and beyond.

While some will be used for regional operations, the majority will operate in local skies. They allow PAL to offer business class on all its 18 domestic routes (only four previously had business). More importantly, PAL will be the sole carrier to offer business service in the domestic market, giving it a decided edge in the country’s corporate market.

“We are a legacy carrier and many people will still prefer to fly more comfortably,” said Bautista.

Meanwhile, the PAL president argues that the carrier is already low-cost in terms of operations. “If you compare costs in terms of the LCCs we have the same maintenance costs, we spend the same on fuel and pay the same airport charges,” he said.

“Maybe they have an advantage in terms of manpower costs, but that is a very small percentage, considering our costs are already very low compared with foreign airlines. Their advantage is they don’t spend much on distribution, but we are also now pushing for sales through the Internet, so soon we will have the same cost of distribution.”

Bautista believes the key elements in PAL’s turnaround have included improvements in passenger service and instilling a “team feeling” among staff. “We have motivated our people so there is more participation and communication,” he said.

As for the future, Bautista is far from over-ambitious. “We are not comparable to Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, Cathay Pacific or Japan Airlines and ANA (All Nippon Airways). We are not looking to become a huge carrier,” he said. “We are looking to be a highly profitable middle-sized airline with 40 to 42 planes, an airline which will have the biggest share of the U.S. market from the Philippines and also an airline which will have a bigger share of the third and fourth freedom traffic from the other countries [in which] we operate”.

ryanr

March 12th, 2007, 10:21 AM

^^Great article. Where did you get it from? please post a link to the source.

I like the last paragraph. A good service, reliable, safe and clean middle-sized airline is perfect for PAL. It doesnt need to be a huge airline with 100 or so planes, PAL just needs to be a dependable and reputable airline to serve the Filipino/Filipina and its guests.

Regarding the B773ERs, why isnt it in Boeing's order list yet? I thought they confirmed the order.

brightblade

March 12th, 2007, 11:23 AM

The last paragaraph on the article about PAL was sober yet comforting. I used to think we could at least beat Thai Airways but its ok now.

ewh1

March 12th, 2007, 12:09 PM

They don't plan on being the new Singapore Airlines
they strive on being a "highly profitable, mid size airline"

http://www.orientaviation.com/section.php?currenyIssue=I20070125140145-mA6W4&currentSection=coverstory&currentArticle=A20070125140119-4xFlW&

i posted it a few pages back. i guess it got buried.

bustero

March 12th, 2007, 12:15 PM

Ok lang to be mid sized. My fear is that they'll use this to stop airline deregulation and choke the country by keeping flights to a minimum per location. They can not grow bigger but they will not let the market grow bigger too.

Sou-jiro

March 12th, 2007, 12:44 PM

^^^^
PAL dont need to have a fleet as big as thai airways, JAL etc etc...these are carriers that already have fleets of near or over 100 aircrafts. we can beat any carriers in terms of other things...service quality, product safety etc etc.

E.g. British Airways easily has well over 200 aircrafts but Virgin Atlantic can hold its own againts BA with just under 40 (all widebody aircrafts)....

a very nice article atleast a very realistic outlook from Bautista...(lets hope so)

if there's other thing that PAL needs to improve apart from product (presently) its they're customer service...based on my previous experiences.

A VERY NICE ARTICLE INDEED...thanks for sharing

mind you i'd be happy if PAL atleast reach 50 aircrafts :)

btwim curious to know what product updrade is on offer for all they're A330-300 :D coz thats what they use in Sydney :D

& anyone has a photo of the interior of PAL 737-400 ? i've never seen it :)

kiretoce

March 12th, 2007, 04:03 PM

8 Airport Projects To Be Completed This Year In The Philippines
By Komfie Manalo All Headline News March 12, 2007

Manila, Philippines (AHN) - The Philippine government on Monday announced that eight new airports worth $321 million are scheduled for completion this year, to enhance the competitive advantages of the country's five super regions. The project is believed to further promote tourism and logistics by providing a more efficient mode of transport for goods and passengers.

Presidential Management Staff director general Cerge Remonde said these eight airport projects are part of the 31 priority airport projects costing almost $21 billion targeted to be completed by 2011 under the Medium-Term Public Investment Program.

At a media briefing in Malacañang together with Manila International Airport Authority general manager Alfonso Cusi, Remonde said the opening of 10 new airports and improvement of 21 others are part of the social payback from the implementation of fiscal and other economic reforms of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

"We have sufficient funding for all these projects. These are part of the social dividends from the reform agenda of the President. This is where your EVAT (expanded value-added tax) goes," Remonde said.

Remonde said the eight airport projects set for completion this year are the Casiguran, Bulan, Kalibo, New Iloilo, New Bacolod, Siargao, Ozamis, and Cotabato Airports.

"Four are due to be finished by the first half of the year, namely the Casiguran, Kalibo, New Iloilo, and Ozamis Airports while the rest are expected to be completed before the year ends. Twenty others will be completed before the end of 2010 and three more by 2011," Remonde said.

The super regions concept was outlined by Arroyo in her State-of-the-Nation Address last July 24. The five super regions are the North Luzon Agribusiness Quadrangle, Metro Luzon Urban Beltway, Central Philippines Mega-Region, Mindanao Mega-Region, and the cyber corridor serving as the cyber link among the four regions.

Of the 31 airport projects, Remonde said 16 are being improved or constructed in Central Philippines; six in the North Luzon Agribusiness Quadrangle; seven in Mindanao, and two in the Luzon Urban Beltway that would improve the transport of agricultural products and provide access to key tourism destinations nationwide.

On the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3, Remonde said remedial works need to be completed first before its targeted rolling opening, originally set this month, can push through.

Cusi said the March 31 opening has been postponed on the recommendation of the Hong Kong-based consultants hired by MIAA that found deficiencies in the construction of NAIA-3.

ewh1

March 13th, 2007, 01:49 AM

May I present the Asian Spirit MD-80
http://jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=5935183

kiretoce

March 13th, 2007, 01:53 AM

^^ Rather bland looking. :(

Sinjin P.

March 13th, 2007, 02:29 AM

Can someone correct the NAIA Wikipedia Entry:

The airport is also connected to the Light Rail Transit LRT Yellow Line by a two-kilometer taxi ride to Baclaran Station. In the future, another LRT line is to be constructed to connect LRT Yellow Line's Baclaran Station, nearer but still indirectly, to the airport's 3 terminals.

:lol:

ryanr

March 13th, 2007, 03:39 AM

May I present the Asian Spirit MD-80
http://jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=5935183

Where did that frame come from, what airline?

kiretoce

March 13th, 2007, 03:41 AM

^^ It said it was an ex-Continental plane.

ryanr

March 13th, 2007, 04:04 AM

:doh: I read that, but somehow missed it:lol:

kiretoce

March 13th, 2007, 04:48 AM

How Air France was won
By John Gillie The News Tribune

When Sea-Tac Airport and Air France last week announced the coming debut of a nonstop air route between the Puget Sound area and Paris, the agreement was the fruit of more than a decade of the airport’s lobbying and sales efforts.

The opening of a foreign route is a big decision for an airline and a major coup for the airport. Successfully developing that route can require the expenditure of millions of dollars in marketing and operational funds. But a well-traveled route can be a major income source for an airline and a plus for the region that depends on good connections with the rest of the world to attract and keep businesses.

The News Tribune talked with Mark Reis, Sea-Tac’s aviation director, about what’s involved in winning such a route and the airport’s ambitions for other overseas connections.

What does the Air France announcement mean to Sea-Tac and the Puget Sound area?

You can talk to people who do quantitative analyses and they recite some very, very large numbers. But in a more practical way, it means much better connections for travelers from this area. I remember coming back from a marketing trip to Paris and connecting in Detroit to get back here. I left Paris about 1:20 p.m. and got back here sometime about 8 or 9. This flight will leave at 1:20 and get here about 2:30. So that’s about a six-hour or so difference.

What kinds of incentives did you offer to get Air France to commit?

We have two primary kinds of incentives, the costs of our landing fees and what we call FIS, the charges we impose on the airlines whose passengers use the part of the airport that houses the customs and inspection operations. For the first year, we forgive the carrier flying to a trans-Pacific or trans-Atlantic destination not currently being served nonstop from here 100 percent of the landing fees and 75 percent of the landing fees the second year. We forgive 75 percent of our FIS charges in both the first and second years. It’s important to recognize that there’s still a net gain for us because we’re still charging them other fees we don’t currently get. They will still pay ticket counter costs, gate costs and ramp tower costs and other things. In addition we provide a marketing assistance fund. I think it’s about $250,000 the first year and less the second and it drops over time.

But aren’t you undercutting the business of the other three carriers (British Airways to London, SAS to Copenhagen and Northwest to Amsterdam) that provide nonstop service from here to Europe and pay the full fees?

We look at this very seriously because we consider the success of our existing customers. If we thought that we would make one of our existing carriers unprofitable by pursuing Air France aggressively, we wouldn’t have been pushing it. We formerly didn’t offer incentives. The fact of the matter is that we’re fairly late to the game. Our competitors have been doing this for years. But potential new carriers told us this was important, so we adopted incentives. The last time we attracted a new carrier to Europe was in 1998 when Northwest began flying from here to Amsterdam. At the time we had British Airways with one flight a day and SAS with one flight a day to Copenhagen. There was a one-year dip in SAS travel out of Seattle as a result of the new Northwest flight. But the next year it went right back up almost at the same growth rate as before.

If not from the existing nonstop carriers, where will Air France customers come from?

I don’t think that over time you’ll see a huge effect on those other carriers directly from here to Europe. What you will see is fewer people connecting at hubs here in the United States. A business traveler nowadays going to Paris from here has two choices: take one of the nonstops from here to a hub in Europe or connect through one of the other hubs in the United States, JFK, Dallas, Detroit or Atlanta, et cetera. More than half of the people traveling to Europe from here now connect in another U.S. hub. Air France has a route network in Europe that is different from the networks offered by the other carriers flying to Europe from here, especially in southern Europe or Eastern Europe. That will provide people with better connections than they have now.

Over the last decades a number of foreign carriers such as Finnair, Thai Airways, Aeroflot, Mexicana, JAL and China Eastern have come and gone from Sea-Tac. Why did they leave? Why will new carriers come here and stay?

There are a couple of things that are in play here. Some of that has to do with the technology. If you were crossing the Pacific, you’d have to land in someplace like Seattle, Los Angeles, Vancouver or San Francisco. If you were going to Chicago from Bangkok, you couldn’t get there from there. The aircraft didn’t have the range. So you had to go to the U.S. West Coast and pick up a domestic carrier from there. That’s no longer true. Seattle benefited for a while, but now, with longer-range planes, if there is enough traffic from a city in the interior, an airline will route a plane there directly, bypassing the coastal cities. But with the coming of such planes as the new Boeing 787, a middle-sized plane with the range to reach anywhere in the world, airlines are looking at flying more point-to-point nonstop flights, and Seattle will benefit from that new technology.

What new routes are on Sea-Tac’s want list?

We look at this from the perspective of what cities have a great deal of traffic that are not served nonstop out of Seattle. That’s how we evaluate our targets. High on that list in Asia are Bejing in China, Hong Kong and Singapore. In the Philippines, Manila is high on the list. So we’re in conversations with several airlines about each of those cities. I would not be surprised if there were some additional trans-Pacific service within the year.

==========================================================
^^
I wonder whether they've already spoken to PAL about this? :colgate:

kiretoce

March 13th, 2007, 04:53 AM

Clark airport jobs up for grabs
By Reynaldo G. Navales Tuesday, March 13, 2007

CLARK ECOZONE -- At least 19 new positions will be made available at the Clark International Airport Corporation (Ciac) amidst the increasing business activities at the sprawling Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA).

The increase in workload necessitated the need to hire new workers at Ciac.

"Signs are already showing that development was increasing at DMIA," said Ciac president Victor Jose Luciano. "The aviation (industry) is growing all over the world. We expect that DMIA will be the central gateway," he said.

Luciano earlier said more jobs will be made available not only to residents of Pampanga but also to residents of nearby provinces in the North and Manila.

The Ciac Human Resources Department (HRD) has identified the positions that will be filled up such as one office manager for bids and awards committee, one finance specialist, three collectors for the Finance Department, three ground operation officers for the Airport Operations Department (AOD), three terminal operation officers for AOD, one legal officer, one internal audit supervisor, one HRD secretary, one HRD assistant secretary, one junior architect, one licensed electrical engineer, one licensed electronics and communications engineer, and one civil and maintenance worker.

Interested and qualified applicants may apply at Ciac HRD.

It is expected that more jobs will be created at Ciac and DMIA as business activities at the airport increase, giving tooth and meaning to the vision of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to develop the Clark airport as a world-class logistics hub and passenger terminal.

The entry of budget airlines such as Asiana of South Korea, Tiger Airways of Singapore, Air Asia of Malaysia and Hong Kong Airlines of China saw the increase in passenger arrival.

In 2006, DMIA posted 2,065 international flights with 470,867 passengers, which is a 110-percent increase from the previous year at 224,497 passengers (1,188 flights). In 2004, 230 flights were recorded with a mere 49,546 passengers.

For its domestic flights, DMIA recorded 432 domestic flights with 9,442 passengers in 2004; 455 flights with 7,816 passengers in 2005; and 443 flights with 17,889 passengers last year.

Terminal fee collections was also upped 126 percent from P35,863,650 million in 2005 to P81,097,750 million in 2006. A measly P8,830,789 million was collected in 2004.

Combined international and domestic cargo tonnage also increased by 15 percent from 112,266 tons in 2005 to 128,747 tons in 2006. In 2004, only 108,162 tons was recorded.

Clark is now being hailed as the employment capital of Central Luzon with workers at the Clark Freeport Zone numbering 48,528 as of January 31 this year. Last year, a total of 47,481 workers were recorded at Clark.

The Ciac HRD and Customer Service Department reported that more jobs will be made available by current stakeholders and incoming investors at DMIA.

"DMIA is fast improving and when you are getting bigger, you have to create jobs to support the vision of President Arroyo," said Ciac executive vice president Alexander Cauguiran.

kiretoce

March 13th, 2007, 04:54 AM

Post away folks! :colgate:

kiretoce

March 13th, 2007, 04:55 AM

New thread! (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=12140532#post12140532) :colgate:

:lock: :lock: :lock: :lock: :lock: :lock: :lock: :lock: :lock: :lock: :lock:

bustero

March 13th, 2007, 07:51 AM

I like to fly in an airplane.

also reposting interesting article by Kirotoce about the new developments in airports in the Republic.

8 Airport Projects To Be Completed This Year In The Philippines
By Komfie Manalo All Headline News March 12, 2007

Manila, Philippines (AHN) - The Philippine government on Monday announced that eight new airports worth $321 million are scheduled for completion this year, to enhance the competitive advantages of the country's five super regions. The project is believed to further promote tourism and logistics by providing a more efficient mode of transport for goods and passengers.

Presidential Management Staff director general Cerge Remonde said these eight airport projects are part of the 31 priority airport projects costing almost $21 billion targeted to be completed by 2011 under the Medium-Term Public Investment Program.

At a media briefing in Malacañang together with Manila International Airport Authority general manager Alfonso Cusi, Remonde said the opening of 10 new airports and improvement of 21 others are part of the social payback from the implementation of fiscal and other economic reforms of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

"We have sufficient funding for all these projects. These are part of the social dividends from the reform agenda of the President. This is where your EVAT (expanded value-added tax) goes," Remonde said.

Remonde said the eight airport projects set for completion this year are the Casiguran, Bulan, Kalibo, New Iloilo, New Bacolod, Siargao, Ozamis, and Cotabato Airports.

"Four are due to be finished by the first half of the year, namely the Casiguran, Kalibo, New Iloilo, and Ozamis Airports while the rest are expected to be completed before the year ends. Twenty others will be completed before the end of 2010 and three more by 2011," Remonde said.

The super regions concept was outlined by Arroyo in her State-of-the-Nation Address last July 24. The five super regions are the North Luzon Agribusiness Quadrangle, Metro Luzon Urban Beltway, Central Philippines Mega-Region, Mindanao Mega-Region, and the cyber corridor serving as the cyber link among the four regions.

Of the 31 airport projects, Remonde said 16 are being improved or constructed in Central Philippines; six in the North Luzon Agribusiness Quadrangle; seven in Mindanao, and two in the Luzon Urban Beltway that would improve the transport of agricultural products and provide access to key tourism destinations nationwide.

On the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3, Remonde said remedial works need to be completed first before its targeted rolling opening, originally set this month, can push through.

Cusi said the March 31 opening has been postponed on the recommendation of the Hong Kong-based consultants hired by MIAA that found deficiencies in the construction of NAIA-3.
__________________

ewh1

March 13th, 2007, 09:24 AM

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070313/philippines_airbus.html?.v=1

Cebu Pacific Orders 20 Airbus A320s
Tuesday March 13, 1:58 am ET
Philippines' Cebu Pacific Orders 20 Airbus A320s

MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- Philippine budget airline Cebu Pacific will buy up to 20 Airbus A320s to more than double its fleet of the jets, the airline's president said Tuesday.

"We are buying up to 20 additional Airbus A320 aircraft for domestic and regional operations," Lance Gokongwei told reporters.

ADVERTISEMENT
Cebu Pacific, formally called Cebu Air Inc., completed a US$670 million (euro509 million) re-fleeting program earlier this month, which included 14 Airbus aircraft.

The new deal is made up of 10 firm orders, with five optional deliveries, and an additional five deliveries if the first five are taken, Gokongwei said. The A320 can accomodate a maximum of 179 passengers.

He said the firm orders are scheduled for delivery from 2010 to 2012, and the options from 2011 to 2013.

Two of the orders will replace leases that expire in 2012.

Cebu Pacific, which pioneered low fares in the Philippine in March 1996, flies to 17 domestic destinations. It also services Hong Kong, Singapore, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok.

ryanr

March 13th, 2007, 09:35 AM

^ wow...more A320 frames immediately after their last acquisition. Good for them, they are doing well. Also sounds like Gokongwei is confident with his airline:)

are they following the Southwest model of buying only narrowbodies? If not, the A330 is a good option for them in the future.

stephencua

March 13th, 2007, 09:46 AM

so this means more P1 fares in the future.. sometime in 2010.. hehehe.. have to save up for that then.. :)

bustero

March 13th, 2007, 01:04 PM

Ok lang but only if they open up the rest so they can have some real competition. They're still expensive. Their Php 1 each way still translates to more than airasia on comparable routes.It's a good marketing gimmick but in general it still can go much lower.

BTW

Am reposting some pretty relevant articles from Orient Aviation. This was posted previously by other forumers but since it's in the other thread I'll repost them. Other forumers who posted these previously please acknowledge yourselves. Ty.

PAL pulls out all the stops
Tom Ballantyne
http://www.orientaviation.com/section.php?currenyIssue=I20070125140145-mA6W4&currentSection=coverstory&currentArticle=A20070125140119-4xFlW&searchkey=philippine%20airlines&

Philippine Airlines (PAL) president, Jaime Bautista, has dragged the airline from the depths of bankruptcy to financial health and industry respectability. Its latest financial year, with net profits rising a hefty 63% to US$28.7 million, represents its best result in over a decade. TOM BALLANTYNE talked to Bautista about the next phase of the PAL revival story.

Officially, it will be 2012 before Philippine Airlines is out of rehabilitation. That is when it hands over the final payment and clears the massive US$2.3 billion debt it had amassed by 1998, when it plunged into bankruptcy and closed its doors for 14 days. But, according to PAL president Jaime Bautista, now that the carrier has fought its way back to liquidity, that day has, in effect, already arrived.

Philippine Airlines present Jaime Bautista: PAL is on the right track and now has something to build on

“We are up to date with the payment of all our obligations,” said Bautista. “Out of the original $2.3 billion that we restructured, we have paid almost $1.3 billion. So, with half our debts already paid, we owe our creditors a little over a billion dollars and that will be paid over the next six years.”

Astute management and intensive reforms have transformed PAL into a nimbler, more efficient and customer-focused airline as it continues to overhaul its operations under the watchful eye of an official receiver. It has improved schedule reliability and on-time performance, slashed costs and dramatically improved its balance book.

Now it plans to modernize its fleet, further enhance service products and systems and push into new markets. “We are on the right track and we have something to build on going forward,” said 49-year-old Bautista.

One of Asia’s oldest airlines – founded on March 15, 1941 – PAL has had a roller-coaster ride since operating the first flight by an Asian carrier across the Pacific in 1946 and the first service to Europe by a Southeast Asian airline, in 1947.

PAL has plumbed the depths, now it is back revitalised and ready to tackle the future.

Reaching this point has not been easy, but Bautista is proud that he was able to keep a promise made to PAL majority shareholder, tobacco tycoon Lucio Tan, when the airline reached agreement with creditors on a rehabilitation plan in late 1998 when he was chief financial officer.

They insisted Tan inject $200 million to back it. Bautista told his boss the money would never be needed. And he was right.

“I am happy to say the $200 million has never been touched by Philippine Airlines,” he said. “In the first year of the rehabilitation plan we were expecting losses, but we reported a meagre income, a few million pesos. Since then there have only been two years when we have lost money; 2001 in the aftermath of 9/11 and 2003 because of SARS.”

Bautista splits his own involvement with PAL into three phases. “The first was post-privatization and pre-restructuring. That was from 1993, when I joined PAL, until 1999 when we were losing money. The next phase was post-restructuring, from 1999 to this year. The third phase? I would call it sustained growth and profitability and we are beginning that phase now.”

Among items on the agenda are fleet renewal and expansion, as well as a much-needed upgrading of inflight service offerings and entertainment systems. There will also be network expansion and, critically, a continuation of focus on corporate discipline, a relentless drive for efficiencies, attacking costs and further strengthening of the company’s financial position.

PAL plans a mixed Airbus and Boeing fleet totalling 40 aircraft within five years

Last year’s healthy income – $28.7 million compared with the previous years’ $17.6 million came on revenues that grew 15% to $1.24 billion – was a turning point. Driven by strong performances by both passenger and cargo businesses, it was the best result since PAL last reported a surplus exceeding $20 million in 1993, when it booked $40.5 million.

Virtually all key performance indices, in the year ended March 31, including those measuring capacity, traffic carriage and load factor, improved year-on-year, buoyed by economic recovery in PAL’s biggest markets: the Philippines, the U.S. and Japan. It also made inroads in booming new markets, such as China. Last November, the carrier launched services to Beijing, its third point on the mainland after Guangzhou and Xiamen.

In the current year, Bautista expects to come close to matching the 2006 result. “It may be a little below because of increased fuel prices, but in terms of revenue it will be growth, to perhaps more than $1.2 billion.”

The only thing holding PAL back right now is lack of capacity. With its A340s flying 15 to 16 hours a day and its B747s nearly 14 hours, it has one of the highest aircraft utilization rates in the industry. It needs more aircraft to increase existing frequencies and add new destinations in the U.S., India and, probably, Europe.

Bautista has already moved to resolve the issue. Late in 2006, he signed a purchase agreement with Boeing for two B777-300ERs for delivery in 2010, with options on another two for delivery in 2011. In addition, he has signed a Letter of Intent with GECAS for the lease of two more B777-300ERs, to be delivered in 2009.

Currently PAL operates a fleet of 32 aircraft – five B747s, four A340s, eight A330s, 11 A320/A319s and four B737s. Another A319 will arrive in May. “We are looking at a fleet of around 40 in four or five years’ time. That takes into account retirements. We will have 20 A319 and A320s, eight A330s, four A340s, four B747s plus at least four B777s,” he said.

The plan is to use the additional capacity to dramatically increase penetration in the North American market. Services to Los Angeles and San Francisco (currently nine and eight services a week respectively) will be raised to double daily. Flights to Vancouver will increase from four a week to daily. The Canadian service also operates through to Las Vegas, but Bautista wants the additional flights to continue to San Diego, adding another U.S. destination to the network.

“There is a clamour from the Filipino community for PAL to fly to San Diego,” he said. “Right now, passengers from there have to take maybe a small aircraft to Los Angeles, or a bus, to connect with our LA flight. There is a big Filipino community in San Diego.”

On the agenda as well are daily flights to Beijing and Xiamen, up from four and five weekly at present. Additional capacity into Australia is being considered, as well as new flights to India. “We don’t fly there now, but we have landing entitlements to seven destinations,” said Bautista. “Obviously, it is a huge growth market and right now there are no direct flights between Manila and India. People have to go via Singapore, Hong Kong or Bangkok.”

A possible return to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia is also being reviewed. Once a strong player in the Gulf region, PAL has reduced its presence in the last decade, dropping Dubai and Jeddah in 1998, then Dammam in 2001. Finally, in March 2006, it dropped Riyadh in the face of a massive oversupply of seats in the market. It now code-shares on routes to the Middle East with Qatar Airways, Emirates Airline and Gulf Air.

Flights to Europe remain under review. Bautista said the problem was not only lack of aircraft, but the cost of operations. Over the last four years, four European carriers operating direct flights between Manila and European capitals have either stopped or reduced services: British Airways in 2002, Swiss International in April 2004, Air France in November 2004 and Lufthansa German Airlines in April 2005. But it remains a tough route to service successfully.

'Our [domestic] competitors are offering very cheap fares. They are tryinhg to buy the market. In spite of that our passenger numbers keep on growing.'
Jaime Bautista

“There is a still lot of competition. Fares are very low and cost of operations is very high to Europe. If conditions improve and we were able to charge higher fares and if fuel prices go down, perhaps we can consider flying to Europe. Our preferred destinations would be London or Frankfurt, but right now we don’t really have additional capacity,” he said.

At least Bautista is no longer short of pilots. Last year, the PAL president complained that dozens of cockpit crew had left, poached by the fast growing operators of the Gulf region and India.

“The pilot shortage is no longer an issue,” he said. “We introduced a pilot retention programme. We have given them a good salary increase. We have given them better retirement benefits. That has stemmed the flow. I am getting feelers from pilots who left us that they want to come back, but right now we have enough.”

While all is well in the cockpit, back in the passenger cabin there is much work to do. The airline’s B747s are being reconfigured – at a cost of $12 million per aircraft – to a two-class layout, with first class being eliminated. There will be new seats in business and economy, with corporate travellers getting cocoon-style sleeper seats. Audio Video On Demand (AVOD) is being installed throughout. The number of seats will be reduced from 433 to 426, but there will be more in business class, increasing the higher yield component.

Like all airlines, staying significantly in the black has not been easy. PAL’s expenses jumped by $153 million, or 14%, to a total of $1.22 billion last year, due largely to the fuel costs, now 30% of the carrier’s expenses. PAL hedges around 60% of its fuel needs.

Despite this, the airline managed to keep outgoings in check by cutting costs and improving systems. For instance, its revenue management, reservations and ticketing systems are now configured to drive down distribution costs. Electronic ticketing is available on more than 70% of PAL flights, including all domestic routes.

Domestically, PAL has been facing tough competition, particularly from rivals like Cebu Pacific. “Passenger traffic has grown by almost 5% compared with last year although yields on domestic routes are going down because of competition,” said Bautista. “Our competitors are offering very cheap fares, as little as one peso, 10 pesos or 99 pesos. They are trying to buy the market. In spite of that our passenger numbers keep on growing”. And, no, he won’t match bargain basement fares.

What Bautista has done is move to revamp the domestic fleet. The first of 20 A320 and A319 aircraft, an $840 million order placed in December 2005, arrived in September, with two more joining the fleet by the end of 2006. Seven will be delivered in 2007 and five more in 2008, with the remainder coming through 2009 and beyond.

While some will be used for regional operations, the majority will operate in local skies. They allow PAL to offer business class on all its 18 domestic routes (only four previously had business). More importantly, PAL will be the sole carrier to offer business service in the domestic market, giving it a decided edge in the country’s corporate market.

“We are a legacy carrier and many people will still prefer to fly more comfortably,” said Bautista.

Meanwhile, the PAL president argues that the carrier is already low-cost in terms of operations. “If you compare costs in terms of the LCCs we have the same maintenance costs, we spend the same on fuel and pay the same airport charges,” he said.

“Maybe they have an advantage in terms of manpower costs, but that is a very small percentage, considering our costs are already very low compared with foreign airlines. Their advantage is they don’t spend much on distribution, but we are also now pushing for sales through the Internet, so soon we will have the same cost of distribution.”

Bautista believes the key elements in PAL’s turnaround have included improvements in passenger service and instilling a “team feeling” among staff. “We have motivated our people so there is more participation and communication,” he said.

As for the future, Bautista is far from over-ambitious. “We are not comparable to Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, Cathay Pacific or Japan Airlines and ANA (All Nippon Airways). We are not looking to become a huge carrier,” he said. “We are looking to be a highly profitable middle-sized airline with 40 to 42 planes, an airline which will have the biggest share of the U.S. market from the Philippines and also an airline which will have a bigger share of the third and fourth freedom traffic from the other countries [in which] we operate”.

Cebu turns up the heat
Tom Ballantyne
http://www.orientaviation.com/section.php?currenyIssue=I20070125140145-mA6W4&currentSection=coverstory&currentArticle=A20070126120158-FN9SH&searchkey=philippine%20airlines&

It came as no surprise to Philippine Airlines management when Cebu Pacific announced its biggest-ever seat sale to more than 200,000 travellers in November, offering US$20 one-way fares to four of its Asian destinations and just $2 to all domestic destinations. The fare blitz had been underway for months, with a regular stream of specials at home and abroad.

The offers are attracting big business. Cebu services 20 domestic destinations and has recently been on a regional expansion drive. Originally flying only to Hong Kong and Singapore, it spread its wings to Kuala Lumpur in November, Bangkok in December and Jakarta in January.

Cebu Pacific president and chief executive, Lance Gokongwei: has positioned Cebu Pacific to cater for cost-conscious business travellers

Domestically, the carrier now has a 45% market share, compared with PAL’s 43%. In October, Cebu recorded its highest passenger loads – domestic and international – in the airline’s 11-year history. It carried a total of 366,284 passengers, 111% higher than the same month in 2005. Domestic traffic hit 318,632, also a record and 108% higher than October 2005. Little wonder president and chief executive Lance Gokongwei is flying high.

“The steady growth of passenger loads can be attributed to Cebu’s aggressive pricing strategy, continuous expansion and opening of new routes, as well as its high quality product offering,” he said.

“Now that we are offering to the public the newest planes, lowest fares, the most domestic flights, routes and destinations, we can see that people are indeed flying more and possibly flying for the first time.”

More serious for PAL appears to be the inroads Cebu is making in the corporate market, even though it has no business class. According to Cebu’s head of sales, Edwin Bautista, the number of companies holding corporate accounts had increased by more than 300% by the end of October 2006, compared to December 2005.

Flexibility was the key to the corporate product, he said. “In addition, we have a fleet with an average age of less than nine months, which once again makes our corporate offering very competitive.

“We are seeing a change in the needs of the business traveller, where business travel no longer means flying business class. Nowadays, we see that companies are becoming more practical and value conscious. Many savvy chief executives and chief financial officers in both the public and private sector are realizing that a real easy way to improve the bottom line or to stretch the budget further is to travel with Cebu.”

Cebu continues to grow. It now operates 12 new A320s and two more will be delivered in early 2007, completing a $670 million re-fleeting programme. And as PAL introduces more new A320 family aircraft of its own and offers business class on all domestic routes, the battle for the corporate dollar is set to intensify. Whether it is Cebu that is right with its all-economy strategy, or PAL with its comfortable offering, only time will tell.

lewdsaint

March 14th, 2007, 02:47 AM

PIA Press Release
2007/03/13

Iloilo airport seen as catalyst for development

Iloilo City (13 March) -- The Iloilo Airport is really intended to serve as catalyst for development, according to Mr. Ed Mangalili, Project Manager of the Iloilo Airport Project who briefed members of the Regional Development Council during their tour of the facilities of the new Airport. Mangalili said the airport would not only spur development around the area but even in the whole of Panay.

The construction of the Iloilo Airport, which is of international standards, came about because the old airport is no longer capable of future air demand, Mangalili said. When completed the Iloilo Airport is a bigger facility than the Silay Airport, Mangalili told the RDC members.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e248/lewdsaint/070313-r6-airport.jpg
Engineer Eduardo Mangalili (in pink shirt), Project Manager of the new Iloilo Airport Project, briefs members of the Regional Development Council on the facilities of the new Iloilo Airport. (PIA-6)

Among others, it boasts of a 2.5 kilometer by 45 meter wide runway which can accommodate Airbus 330 and 340 and Boeing 747 planes, three Passenger Bridges, two baggage claim conveyors, a 500 seating capacity passenger lounge, a three-kilometer access road and nine separate buildings all within the 188 hectare airport complex.

The cost of construction is pegged at P8.758 billion.

So far, Mangalili said, three airline companies have signified their intention to avail of space within the new Airport and are expected to move in within the week to arrange their offices. Spaces within the airport are also open to concessionaires.

The completed airport facilities will be formally turned over to the Air Transportation office on March 19 and it will now be the ATO who will manage the facilities according to Mr. Alan Java, ATO Area Manager. The tentative schedule for the Airport inauguration is on April 12, 2007.

Meanwhile to enhance the competitive advantages of the country's five super regions, the government is set to complete this year, aside from the Iloilo Airport, seven other airport projects that would further promote tourism and logistics by providing a more efficient mode of transport for goods and passengers. The eight airport projects are part of the 31 priority airport projects costing P94.37 billion targeted to be completed by 1022 under the Medium Term Public Investment Program (MTPIP). (PIA 6)

bustero

March 14th, 2007, 06:23 AM

Biggest business news for the day.

Cebu Pacific set to invest $1.3B on fleet expansion
By Mary Ann Ll. Reyes
The Philippine Star 03/14/2007

Gokongwei-owned Cebu Pacific (CEB) said yesterday it would expand its fleet further with the purchase of up to 20 additional Airbus A-320 aircraft worth $1.3 billion.

The expansion is on top of the recently completed $670-million fleet upgrade which was completed last March 2.

According to CEB president and chief executive officer Lance Gokongwei, the $1.3 billion will be financed partly from internally generated funds and partly from other financing arrangements. He said an initial public offering of CEB is one of the options available.

The order is made up of 10 firm orders, with five options and an additional five options if the first five options are taken. "We expect the firm orders to be delivered from 2010 to 2012 and the options from 2011 to 2013. Two of the orders are to replace leases that expire in 2010. This will allow us to grow our fleet from 14 Airbus aircrafts to 32 by 2013 (22 A320s and10 A319s)," he said.

This new fleet expansion, Gokongwei explained, will more than double capacity. Currently, CEB operates in 20 domestic and seven regional destinations using 10 A319s and four A320s, with a fleet age of less than one year.

"This means that we will be able to provide more low fares both in the domestic and international routes we operate as well as spreading our wings to new destinations. This fleet expansion is a continuance of the airline’s commitment to provide more Filipinos the opportunity to fly not only within the Philippines, but around the wider Asia Pacific region too," he added.

Gokongwei pointed out that there is still a huge demand for air travel in the Philippines, with traffic expected to grow by over 50 percent. "If the economy grows six percent, the airline industry will grow twice the GDP growth which will be about 14 to 15 percent. This means we have to add two to three planes each year just to service the growth," he said.

International traffic industry-wide meanwhile grew almost double last year and is expected to experience the same growth levels this year, especially with more low-cost offerings all over Asia, he added.

But in order to bridge the gap from now until the first delivery in 2010, CEB will be taking short to medium-term leases on Airbus A320 aircraft. Two of these leased planes have already been delivered early this year and an additional one or two will be delivered later in 2007. In 2008 and 2009, three to four A320s will be added to CEB’s fleet each year. Majority of these short to medium-term lease requirements have already been finalized.

"As a consequence of these orders, we expect to increase our guest numbers from five million passengers this year to 10 million in 2013," he pointed out.

Last year, CEB carried around 3.5 million passengers, a 57-percent growth from the previous year’s 2.2 million, which was largely attributed to the arrival of the planes under the refleeting program. Of the 3.5 million, three million were on domestic flights and the rest from regional flights. The regional business doubled its number of passengers.

Gokongwei also noted that in a little more than six months, CEB had added Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Jakarta to its route network as well as expanding its service to Hong Kong and Korea. Several new international destinations in the coming weeks will be announced with service starting in just a few months time, he said.

Now on its 12th year, CEB operates the most domestic destinations, flights and routes, with by far the youngest fleet of aircraft in the Philippines, making the airline the country’s leading domestic carrier and low fare leader, he added.

CEB has 652 weekly flights as against competitor Philippine Airlines’ 498, or 31 percent more. It also operates in 20 cities as against PAL’s 18 and on 26 domestic routes versus PAL’s 17. For February 2007 alone, CEB reported that it carried more domestic guests than any other airline, surpassing PAL’s domestic market share. "However you measure it, we are now clearly number one domestically in the Philippines," Gokongwei emphasized.

Gokongwei stressed that because the planes are new, they are more fuel-efficient and more efficient operationally, allowing for maximum aircraft utilization which contributes to CEB’s ability to offer low fares.

from flight international
DATE: 13/03/07
SOURCE:Flightglobal.com
Cebu Pacific orders up to 20 more A320s
By Nicholas Ionides

Philippine low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific has agreed to order up to 20 more Airbus A320s directly from the manufacturer.

Spokeswoman Candice Iyog says from Manila that the deal comprises 10 A320s on firm order and 10 options. Deliveries of the firm-ordered aircraft will take place between 2010 and 2012, she says.

Iyog adds that the options are broken down into two batches of five, and if all 10 are exercised they will be delivered between 2011 and 2013. The second batch of five options will be available to the carrier only if it firms up the first five options.

She is not immediately able to confirm whether an engine choice has been made. Cebu Pacific’s existing A320-family aircraft are powered by CFM International CFM56 engines.

The order announcement comes days after the carrier completed a re-fleeting that has seen it replacing its McDonnell Douglas DC-9s and Boeing 757s with four A320s and 10 A319s, 12 of which it owns.

Since it took delivery of its first Airbus narrowbody in May 2005 Cebu Pacific has aggressively expanded its operations and now serves 20 domestic destinations as well as Bangkok, Hong Kong Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Last year it carried 3.46 million passengers, or 57% more than in 2005.

Inquirer
Cebu Pacific to buy 20 A320s worth $1.3B

XFN-Asia, Inquirer
Last updated 02:20am (Mla time) 03/14/2007

MANILA, Philippines -- Low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific Air Inc., a unit of conglomerate JG Summit Holdings Inc., said it would expand its fleet further with the purchase of 20 additional Airbus A320 aircraft worth a combined $1.3 billion.

The airline, which has just completed a $670-million refleeting program, announced firm orders for 10 Airbus A320 planes, with delivery expected between 2010 and 2012.

"We are buying up to 20 additional Airbus A320s for our domestic and regional operations. The order is made up of 10 firm orders with five options, and an additional five options if the first five options are taken," said Lance Gokongwei, president and chief executive of Cebu Pacific.

He said the option to buy 10 more A320s might be exercised between 2011 and 2013.

Another company official meanwhile said Cebu Pacific’s recent promotional offer of P1 fares resulted in a sell-out of promo tickets for international flights but 50,000 seats on domestic flights were unsold.

The seat sale began March 2 and closed on March 11 after a three-day extension. The promo price did not include tax and a fuel surcharge.

About 16 percent of domestic seats available at promo rates remained unsold, which marketing director Candice Iyog blamed on a problem with Internet access.

"I think that was really a question of accessing the website to buy tickets,” Iyog said. “If we extended further, I'm sure we would have sold out as well."

The unsold seats have reverted to their original selling prices.

Allotted were 300,000 seats on 20 domestic and seven international flights, for flights from June 1 to Dec. 15.

Related News on Cebu Pacific but not on Airplanes

No takers for 50,000 flight seats in Cebu Pacific promo

By Tarra Quismundo
Inquirer
Last updated 08:13pm (Mla time) 03/13/2007

MANILA, Philippines -- Tickets for international flights were sold out, but 50,000 seats for domestic flights were still for the taking when Cebu Pacific Air's one-peso seat sale closed on Sunday.

Despite the three-day extension on the airfare promo, 16 percent of seats available at promo rates remained unsold until the sale period lapsed on March 11, an excess that the airline attributed to the problem of access.

"I think that was really a question of accessing the website to buy tickets. If we extended further, I'm sure we would have sold out as well," said Candice Iyog, airline marketing director.

She added that there were more domestic tickets available than seats for the airline's flights to Asean cities, hence slots for international flights sold out fast.

The remaining seats have since reverted to their original selling prices.

Cebu Pacific Air allotted 300,000 seats for its 20 domestic and seven international destinations for the bargain on tickets for flights from June 1 to December 15.

The promo opened on March 2 and was set to close on March 8, but the airline opted for an extension until Sunday when thousands of seats remained unsold by the promo's end.

Sinjin P.

March 14th, 2007, 11:13 AM

Cebu Pacific revives plans to fly to Japan

By Rocel Felix
Xinhua Financial News Service
Last updated 03:39pm (Mla time) 03/14/2007

MANILA, Philippines--Low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific Air Inc, a unit of conglomerate JG Summit Holdings Inc, is reviving plans to fly between here and Japan, having relinquished its flight entitlements last year, Cebu Pacific president and chief executive Lance Gokongwei said.

Gokongwei told reporters that his airline would tell the Civil Aeronautics Board of its plans once the Japanese authorities made new flight entitlements available.

"The problem now is that there are no more entitlements to Japan. So, even if we are interested -- which we still are -- it is still impossible because there are no more flight entitlements," said Gokongwei.

The flight slots given up by Cebu Pacific last year were taken up by a rival, Philippine Airlines, after the Japanese aviation authorities rejected Cebu Pacific's plan to use 150-seater Airbus 319 aircraft on the route.

On Tuesday, Cebu Pacific announced it was buying 20 more Airbus A320 aircraft, together worth $1.3 billion.

migoy

March 14th, 2007, 01:19 PM

now that's good news :D

jgacis

March 15th, 2007, 10:19 AM

NATIONAL ASTRONOMY WEEK

FEBRUARY 18-24, 2007

"Shaping the Future of Philippine Astronomy"

by James Kevin Ty

The Astronomical League of the Philippines celebrated this year's National Astronomy Week in a humble way. To start off this year's activity is the launching of the 1st ALP Astrophoto Exhibit at the Manila Planetarium on opening day on February 18th. This will feature the best images produced by members of the society. Among the members's images on display were that of Christopher Go, Eric Africa, John Nassr, James Kevin Ty, Jett Aguilar and Raymund Sarmiento. Also another unique exhibit worth viewing are the meteorites collections lead by Allen Yu. An exhibit of different type of telescopes will also be on display for members to view them.

Another activity worth checking out is the Astro-Garage Sale that will be available ONLY on opening day. This is the opportunity for members as well as visitors to purchase astro related items such as used books, star maps, telescope accessories, novelties like patches and mugs at an affordable price.

A solar observation session will treat early attendees at around 1:00pm. Scopes will be setup at the vicinity of the Planetarium which will show the Sun through white light and in Hydrogen-Alpha (H-Alpha) light. In white light , viewers will be able to see the Sun at the

H-Alpha Viewing
http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/41/061015brp1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

White Light Viewing
http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/8360/060903ekj9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

normal light wavelength. Some features which one might be able to see on the Sun's disk are Sunspots and Faculae. H-Alpha, on the other hand, will let one view the Sun in the narrow H-Alpha wavelength. One can see solar features such as Solar Flares, filaments, Prominences. The Sun is a very dynamic object for all to enjoy!!! Unfortunately, the solar observation sked will only be between 1:00-2:00pm so you dont want to be late right or else you will missed your chance to look at the Sun in different telescopes.

Main program will start at 2:00pm with Ms. Corazon Alvina (Director IV, National Museum) as guest of honor to open the Astrophoto Exhibit. Afterwards, our very own ALP Vice President Jett Aguilar will be giving a short lecture on Basic Digital Astrophotography. One can see his works at the photo exhibit.

A free Planetarium show will be the program finale and after the event, members and guests are invited to join the ALP at the Rajah Sulayman Park in Baywalk (beside Aristocrat Restaurant in Roxas Blvd) at around 6:00pm. Honorable Mayor Lito Atienza will be the guest of honor to open the stargazing session. The stargazing session will be held from 6:00pm to 10:00pm.

http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/2168/060219nawlzf1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

jgacis

March 15th, 2007, 10:20 AM

http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/7040/070304plecollagegf9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Waldenstrom

March 15th, 2007, 11:03 PM

Make it a mega hospital complex instead!!! :) hehe. Oops but i guess they're already making one at East Avenue.

AH-7Raja

March 16th, 2007, 03:39 AM

These are some of the things/establishments that i would like to see at NAIA if we are gonna transform it into a new business district:

1. New Malacaniang Palace
2. New military parade ground
3. Grand central station for all types of land transportation vehicles including some rapid rail transit
4. Largest library in the philippines
5. New home for PGH
6. New modern police & fire stations
7. Freeways
8. New City Hall
9. Other residential and commercial establishments with a modern mall (ofcourse, we need atleast one modern mall in every new city)

Other things should be built along outside but near NAIA:
1. Luneta Grand stand should be demolished and replace it with a new tallest multi-purpose commercial tower.
2. Rizal memorial complex shoud be demolished and be replaced by new highrise commercial and residential buildings and other establishments.
3. US embassy should be demolished and replaced by a them park.
4. Extend the Bay City reclamation area further southwest, and reserve it for a new olympic village & olympic size sports complex with matching olympic stadium for our future hosting of a summer olympic (if ever).
5. Build an exhibition place beside that olympic village, with a new science center/museum, new international convention center, and a multi-purpose race track for formula 1, 2, & 3., motocross/bikes, drag-racing, etc.
6. Transform Sangley Point into a modern naval base with an airstrip and build our new Manila International Airport beside it (northside), by claiming part of manila bay too.

=D

portludlow

March 16th, 2007, 04:59 AM

Sinjin P.

March 16th, 2007, 11:35 AM

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/132/421021751_c4eed1a424_b.jpg

by Ronald Cordero - Flickr

anonymous_filipino

March 16th, 2007, 03:22 PM

if NAIA's gonna turn into a new district, then our government should make it into mixed-used area, like what the Hong Kong government is doing to Kai Tak airport right now, but minus the cruise ship terminals of course. also a communications and observation tower that will rival guangzhou's and jakarta's tower height will be built there.

about the plan to have the New Manila International Airport in a reclaimed island southwest of the reclamation area, i think that it should just be a world-class domestic airport connected to Manila by an expressway and a maglev line that connects it to Clark International Airport and Manila's MRT system.

JustHorace

March 16th, 2007, 03:31 PM

Why not a replacement for Batasan (at least a part of it)? I'd imagine it as something similar to the modern German Reichstag. Puro illegal settlers kasi ang surroundings sa Batasan, tapos very narrow pa yung street. No sign of grandeur or authority man lang.

terrapinoy

March 16th, 2007, 08:37 PM

Philippine Airlines orders Boeing jets worth $500M
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=70283

NEW YORK - Boeing Co. said on Thursday Philippine Airlines ordered two 777-300 Extended Range minijumbos, with an option to order two more.

The order for the two minijumbos is worth about $500 million at list prices. The new planes will allow the national flag carrier of the Philippines, known as PAL, to operate direct flights to the United States. - Reuters

From the Boeing Press release. Belated Happy 66th Birthday PAL!

http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2007/q1/070315a_pr.html

(http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2007/q1/070315a_pr.html)
http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2007/photorelease/q1/070315a_lg.jpg

kiretoce

March 17th, 2007, 02:33 AM

^^ That photo of a B777 in PAL's livery is wicked awesome! :righton:

Askal82

March 17th, 2007, 03:39 AM

Re: About the Bomb Jokes.

I can't help but notice but is the phrase 'Cracking up jokes' generally accepted as semi-formal?

kiretoce

March 17th, 2007, 04:42 AM

Waaaahh! :cry: A sad day for aviation enthusiasts! :(

==========================================================

Boeing 747-400 is out of production

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON -- It is the end of the production line for the passenger version of the Boeing 747-400, the world's largest commercial jet transport in commercial service.

The Boeing Company posted new orders for 46 airplanes worth about $9 million at list prices yesterday while announcing on its Web site that the last four passenger versions of the 747-400 had been removed from its order books.

The announcement did not say which company had ordered the four planes, and Boeing officials would not identify the customer, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported.

The last of the more than 450 747-400 passenger planes was delivered in April of 2005, and the last order was placed by China Airlines in November 2002. It was the best-selling version of the 747, the first version of which was certified by the Federal Aviation Administration in 1969.

Boeing still has orders for 36 747-400 freighter, 18 each for the regular model and an extended-range version, while working on development of two bigger and more fuel efficient models, the 747-8 freighter, which is scheduled to go into service in 2009, and 747-8 Intercontinental passenger jet, scheduled to enter service the next year.

Six of the new orders posted Thursday, all from an unidentified customer or customers, were for the 747-8 freighter, bringing the total for that model to 60.

Other orders announced Thursday from unidentified customers were for six 777-300ERs and 15 787-9s. Also posted were previously announced orders for two 777s from Philippine Airlines, five 787s from Continental Airlines, and six 737s and six 787s from ALAFCO Aviation Lease and Finance Co. of Kuwait.

That gives Boeing 116 firm orders for the year.

Boeing previously logged orders for 24 747-8 Intercontinentals, including 20 from the German carrier Lufthansa. The Intercontinental is designed for about 50 more passengers than the 416-seat 747-400 and will have a new wing and engines.

The 747-400 remains the largest jetliner in commercial service but will lose that status after Singapore Airlines takes delivery of its first 555-passenger Airbus A380 late this year. Unlike the 747, which has a short upper deck behind the cockpit, the A380 is a fully double-decker jet.

kiretoce

March 17th, 2007, 04:45 AM

MANILA -- Philippine Airlines Inc., Asia's oldest carrier, will add one flight to Vancouver starting today after borrowing a right from Air Canada in a bid to capture a bigger share of the market. The Manila-based carrier will fly five times a week to Vancouver from four previously. The airline, which celebrates its 66th year this week will also add a flight each to Beijing, Xiamen and Nagoya this month.

ramvingar

March 17th, 2007, 04:48 AM

kiretoce

March 17th, 2007, 05:04 AM

Filipino LCC Cebu Pacific opts for 20 more A320s
16 March 2007

Cebu Pacific Air, a Filipino low-cost carrier, has signed a contract for the purchase of ten more A320 aircraft, with options on five aircraft and purchase rights on a further five aircraft.

Cebu had placed an initial order for 12 A320 family aircraft in September 2004, the last one of which was delivered earlier this month. With the delivery of the first A320 in May 2005, Cebu Pacific has now totally replaced its fleet of DC-9 and Boeing 757 aircraft. The new A320 aircraft will further expand Cebu Pacific's network that currently extends to 26 domestic and 10 international destinations.

According to Airbus, more than 5,000 A320 Family aircraft have been ordered by customers worldwide, over 1,200 of which are from customers in Asia-Pacific.

"The A320 Family has proven to be an outstandingly popular choice with both start-up and established low-cost carriers all around the world and I am delighted that Cebu Pacific's experience of low operating costs and high passenger appeal over the past two years has resulted in this further vote of confidence in the aircraft", said Airbus chief operating officer - customers, John Leahy.

With around 1600 sales in the last two years alone, the A320 family is also the fastest-selling jet airliner of all time. The Airbus A320 family has been ordered by, or is in service with, more than 200 customers and operators worldwide. More than 3,000 A320 family aircraft have already been delivered and have completed 30 million flight cycles and 50 million flight hours.

ryanr

March 17th, 2007, 05:34 AM

From the Boeing Press release. Belated Happy 66th Birthday PAL!

http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2007/q1/070315a_pr.html

(http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2007/q1/070315a_pr.html)
http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2007/photorelease/q1/070315a_lg.jpg

Sweet! Its finally official!:banana:

Regarding the 744 news...sad day for aviation enthusiasts indeed. Its too bad, its a classic jet, but at least the 747 line will carry on with 747-8.

jgacis

March 17th, 2007, 05:37 AM

MANILA TIMES....

Saturday, March 17, 2007

PAL orders more aircraft to expand flights to the US

By Darwin G. Amojelar, Reporter

PHILIPPINE Airlines said it has ordered more aircraft to expand its flights to the United States.

In a statement, the country’s first flag carrier said it has ordered two Boeing 777-300ERs (Extended Range) commercial airplanes, with purchase rights for two more of the aircraft.

PAL currently operates five Boeing 747-400s and three Boeing 737-300/-400s.

“The acquisition of the Boeing 777-300ER allows PAL to expand direct services between the Philippines and the United States,” said Jaime J. Bautista, PAL president.

“Our passengers will also benefit from the higher level of comfort and amenities that this high-technology aircraft brings,” he added.

Separately, PAL also signed a letter of intent with GE Commercial Aviation Services (GECAS) to lease two Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.

Earlier, rival Cebu Pacific announced that it will buy 20 more Airbus A320s worth $1.3 billion to further expand its fleet.

“The whole industry is poised for growth. For 2007, PAL will keep (its) eyes focused on the bottom line. This means also that we should not lose sight of the top line—revenues, traffic and load factors—and the mid-line, our expenses,” Bautista earlier said.

For the period October to December, PAL posted a net loss of $2.9 million from $3.1 billion in the same quarter in 2005.

The 1.79-percent increase in passenger revenues to $245.4 million has allowed PAL to increase its revenues by 1.5 percent to $303.4 million during the same period, while other sources of revenues like surcharges, interest income also contributed to earnings during the last three months of 2006.

tigidig14

March 17th, 2007, 05:55 AM

mahal ang pamasahe ngayon sa pnas, mahigit $950+ low season pa upto may 18, tapos sabi nung may19 and above mahigit 1200+

Solblanc

March 17th, 2007, 11:05 AM

well, looks like the good times are rolling. Looks like major developments are gonna happen for PAL and CebPac

from now until 2009:
- PAL's A320/A319 fleet is going to be beefed up, and the 737s are gonna be cast off.
-The 747, A340, and A330 fleet are gonna be retrofitted with new Mabuhay Class seats, as well as avod in economy, I think.
-For Cebu Pacific, they've mentioned that they're gonna lease some A320s short-term until their orders arrive.
-Seair should be flying their A320s in their tie-up with Tiger Airways

By 2009:
-the T7s are bound to be delivered, and then we'll see some cool expansion in the long-haul network.
-PAL is supposedly going to lease medium-range widebodies for additional expansion. My bets are on extra A333s, but extra A332s would be cool, as it would free up A340s from the honolulu route, and perhaps even mean a return to the middle east.

from 2010-2012
-All 6 T7s should be delivered by now, and we should be seeing double daily flights to SFO and LAX, as well as daily flights to Vancouver, as seen in the Orient Aviation article.
-Cebu Pacific should be receiving their mega A320 order. Five bucks says that they're gonna do some mammoth expansion into China, Japan, and Korea. Likewise, I'm seeing mammoth expansion in routes out of Cebu. Perhaps they'll even base their entire A319 fleet there. Davao should also probably get its share of nonstops by now.

===================

This all seems nice, but if we compare this growth to our neighbors, it's pretty plain. Air Asia has a plethora of hubs; regional cities like Chiang Mai and Kota Kinabalu have been very well connected in terms of air travel for more than five years now. Of course, the fact that our neighbors get a lot more tourists than we do is a huge factor in air travel, but still, we seem to be constantly in a state of idleness before rushing to play catch-up later. The 8 new airports sans naia-3 are good news indeed, but Malaysia, and even Indonesia have built beautiful airports in their major cities to promote air travel. Iloilo and Bacolod, despite having new airports opening, have had to live with crummy airports and runways for decades despite the fact that the growth in traffic was good and was only curtailed by the lack of infrastructure. Even Mactan-Cebu international had a crummy runway that was only addressed before the ASEAN summit. Cathay Pacific and Qatar airways obviously already saw that there was potential in Cebu, but had better infrastructure been in place years ago for the city that is supposedly the queen of the south, perhaps more carriers would have been attracted to serve Cebu. And don't even get me started on Naia-3.

*sigh*

Skyblade

March 17th, 2007, 08:50 PM

^^ Well, as mentioned in the earlier Orient Aviation article, Bautista mentioned that PAL will continue to prefer to be a mid-sized airline which means not much jaw-dropping and exciting expansions for us other than whats mentioned or planned for quite a bit.

Waaaahh! :cry: A sad day for aviation enthusiasts! :(

==========================================================

Boeing 747-400 is out of production

And thus ends an 18 year run. :( Thankfully the 747 will continue to live on in the -8!

Skyblade

March 17th, 2007, 08:53 PM

kiretoce

March 17th, 2007, 09:26 PM

^^ Great TR Skyblade! :okay: That jab at T3 made me chuckle! :lol:

ryanr

March 17th, 2007, 09:49 PM

Thanks for the little time line. Looks good but several corrections:

-Cebu Pacific should be receiving their mega A320 order. Five bucks says that they're gonna do some mammoth expansion into China, Japan, and Korea. Likewise, I'm seeing mammoth expansion in routes out of Cebu. Perhaps they'll even base their entire A319 fleet there. Davao should also probably get its share of nonstops by now.

Japan has already made it clear that they will not allow 5J to operate A320s to Japan. Its exactly why 5J's landing rights to Japan were sold to PR.

This all seems nice, but if we compare this growth to our neighbors, it's pretty plain. Air Asia has a plethora of hubs; regional cities like Chiang Mai and Kota Kinabalu have been very well connected in terms of air travel for more than five years now.

I dont mind. We shouldnt be comparing the aviation growth of the Philippines to our neighbors because they are targeting hub traffic while ours is targeted as Philippines as the final destination of travelers. And yes, also the fact that they receive more tourists than us. Mr. Bautista said it right, PR should not be compared with the likes of TG, SQ and CX in terms of fleet #. As long as they provide the best service and amenities possible, PR is on track to be a world class airline servicing its people and visitors.

ryanr

March 17th, 2007, 09:55 PM

:applause: excellent work on the trip report, skyblade:) How long has that NAIA T3 poster been up there? since 2002?:lol: I like the use of soft and clean interior colors in PR's A319/A320

To kinda seperate myself from my last post, I finally posted the first part of my Three-pronged Winter Vacation adventure in Airliners.net. The entire routing for this 3 week trip was LAX-NRT-MNL-ILO-MNL-NRT-NGO-CTS-NGO-MNL-NRT-PDX-LAX-MSP-LAX-HNL-MSP-LAX which definitely makes it the longest multi-segment trip I ever did so far. :D
[/URL]

Thats a lot of flying in and out of destinations in just three weeks.:D why did you fly on a separate flight from your mom and bro?

kiretoce

March 17th, 2007, 10:11 PM

^^ I believe he (Skyblade) did mention that he had WorldPerks points/mileage on Northwest, and it'll be a waste not to use them up.

kiretoce

March 17th, 2007, 10:34 PM

PAL flight diverted to DMIA
By Reynaldo G. Navales Sunday, March 18, 2007

CLARK ECOZONE – A Philippine Airlines (PAL) Airbus 320 was diverted to the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) on Friday night after the runway of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport temporarily closed.

The PAL flight, which originated from Saigon in Vietnam, landed at DMIA around seven in the evening, DMIA officials said.

At least seven aircraft have been advised to temporarily land at the DMIA after an aircraft bogged down at the Naia runway.

Airport officials said only one of the seven aircraft landed at DMIA. The others proceeded to NAIA after the airport was cleared.

Clark International Airport Corporation vice president Alexander Cauguiran said the diversionary flight had proven once again that DMIA is more than capable of handling emergency situations.

DMIA has two 3.2 parallel runways that can accommodate even the biggest aircraft in the world, said Cauguiran.

The bigger generation of Airbus aircraft that will be roll out soon such as the Airbus 380 can be accommodated at DMIA, he added.

Last year, DMIA got at least 10 “diversionary flights” after a small aircraft bogged down at the only runway of NAIA forcing airport authorities to shut down operations.

Cauguiran said a YS-11 cargo turbo propeller bogged down at NAIA’s single runway preventing the arrival of domestic and international passenger and cargo flights at the country’s main gateway.

CIAC operates DMIA while the Manila International Airport Authority runs NAIA. DMIA is the nearest airport to NAIA and is often tapped as alternative landing site during emergency situations.

DMIA is being developed as an alternative international gateway and is being recognized as the budget airlines capital of the country.

Nearly 500,000 passengers, mostly ferried by low cost carriers, passed through the airport last year.

CIAC officials claimed that DMIA is also the only airport in the Philippines that can accommodate the new generation of bigger aircraft such as the Airbus 380.

CIAC is planning to expand the existing terminal to increase passenger capacity from 500,000 a year to around 2.1 million passengers a year in 2008.

Solblanc

March 18th, 2007, 09:42 AM

@greyx: Well, Japan barred the A319, but I don't think the A320 is under the same restrictions. After all, PAL flies its A320s to Osaka and Okinawa.

@skyblade: Great trip report! I loved the T3 poster. I was laughing so hard when I saw it, which is sad in a strange way. I never saw that poster when I arrived here last week, though. The A319 pix are just divine, that's a great business class for a narrowbody! Can't wait for the full refleeting! Oh, I've heard that the pitch in Y is 29"-30". Does it feel that cramped? I remember flying on ryanair on a two hour flight, and it felt cramped. I'm not that tall, mind you (5'7"-ish).

Skyblade

March 18th, 2007, 07:23 PM

^^ Indeed the seat pitch was around that range. I'm also 5'7" ish but I found it *somewhat* tolerable but it really did give you that "cozy" feeling with the seat in front of you. I totally had to forgo the idea of putting a carry-on under the seat in front of me due to the limited space. :/

Speaking of Ryanair, what was it like with them? I'm still keeping the option of a possible routing from STN to LBC (Hamburg Lübeck, not the courier ;)) if I decided to go with a routing that includes the all-business class airline Maxjet (with the price other airlines are offering for Y from my origin, this looks like a viable alternative). Indeed it's going to be one hell of a jump when I make that connection at STN...;)

AH-7Raja

March 19th, 2007, 01:39 AM

we need an urban renewal projects in that area and relocate those illigal settlers.

Sinjin P.

March 19th, 2007, 06:56 AM

PAL places $500-M order for more Boeings
as RP-US service expands
By Lenie Lectura
Reporter

PHILIPPINE Airlines (PAL) has ordered two Boeing 777-300ER minijumbo planes for $500 million, the Boeing Co. said in a statement over the weekend

The placement also carries an option to order two more of the same aircraft.

The minijumbo airplanes will be used by PAL to boost its flights to the United States.

“The acquisition of the Boeing 777-300ER allows PAL to expand direct services between the Philippines and the United States,” said Jaime Bautista, president of PAL. “Our passengers will also benefit from the higher level of comfort and amenities that this high-technology aircraft brings.”

PAL said in December it was acquiring six wide-bodied aircraft from Boeing worth $1.5 billion. Internal funds and borrowings will finance the acquisition of the two units. The planes are expected to be delivered in the third and fourth quarters of 2009.

Separately, PAL has signed a letter of intent with GE Commercial Aviation Services for the lease of another two Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. Delivery shall be made in March and September 2010.

The acquisition of the Boeing airplanes, while allowing PAL to expand direct flights between the Philippines and the US, will probably rekindle plans to fly to the Europe and Middle East, Bautista added.

The US route, Bautista said, is PAL’s single-biggest source of revenue, contributing an estimated 20 percent. PAL is the only Philippine carrier that flies to the US, specifically to San Francisco, Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

“Historically, in terms of volume and sales, US and North Asia, including Japan and South Korea, have always been good markets for us,” Bautista said.

The country’s largest airline controlled by Lucio Tan is considering flying to San Diego in California and Seattle in Washington, while possibly opening up new routes to India.

“The Boeing 777-300ER is a great choice for Philippine Airlines, giving Asia’s first commercial airline the most efficient airplane in the 300-to-400 seat segment, and offering its passengers the highest levels of comfort and reliability,” said Boeing commercial airplanes vice president for Greater China sales Rob Laird.

Since March 15, 1941, when it mounted its first flight, PAL is the longest operating airliner in Asia. Its modern fleet and route network spans 24 foreign cities and 18 domestic destinations.

http://businessmirror.com.ph/03192007/companies01.html

Source: Business Mirror

Sinjin P.

March 19th, 2007, 07:01 AM

Cebu Pacific to start Taiwan flights

By JAMES A. LOYOLA

Cebu Pacific Air is expanding its overseas destinations with its plan to start daily flights to Taiwan during the second quarter of this year.

Industry sources said the airline has secured the approval of authorities for midday flights from Manila to Taipei daily after recently completing its $ 670-million refleeting program last March 2.

The airline plans to serve more destinations with the purchase of up to an additional 20 Airbus A320 aircraft worth $ 1.3 billion and the lease of more planes as it adds more destinations here and abroad.

Cebu Pacific president Lance Gokongwei said the fleet expansion is a continuance of the airline’s commitment to provide more Filipinos the opportunity to fly not only within the Philippines but around the wider Asia Pacific region too.

"We are buying up to 20 additional Airbus A320 aircraft for our domestic and regional operations. The order is made up of 10 firm orders, with 5 options and an additional 5 options if the first five options are taken," he said.

Gokongwei added that the firm orders are expected to be delivered from 2010-2012 and the options from 2011-2013. "This will allow us to grow our fleet from 14 Airbus aircraft to 32 Airbus aircraft by 2013," said Gokongwei.

"With this fleet expansion, we will be more than doubling our capacity. This means that we will be able to provide more low fares both in the domestic and international routes we operate as well as spreading our wings to new destinations." he added.

Currently, Cebu Pacific operates in 20 domestic and 7 regional destinations using 10 A319s and 4 A320s, with a fleet age of less than one year.

Gokongwei explained that in order to bridge the gap from now until the first delivery in 2010, CEB will be taking short to medium term leases on Airbus A320 aircraft.

Two Airbus A320 aircraft have already been delivered early this year and an additional one or two will be delivered later in 2007. In 2008 and 2009 three to four Airbus A320 aircraft will be added to CEB’s fleet each year.

Gokongwei confirmed that the majority of these short-medium term lease requirements had already been finalized.

"As a consequence of these orders, we expect to increase our guest numbers from 5 million this year to 10 million in 2013 as we continue our unwavering support for the country’s tourism agenda," he said.

Gokongwei added that in a little more than six months, CEB has added Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Jakarta to its route network as well as expanding its service to Hong Kong and Korea.

He expects to announce several new international destinations in the coming weeks with service starting in just a few months.

Now in its 12th year, CEB operates the most domestic destinations, flights and routes, with by far the youngest fleet of aircraft in the Philippines, making the airline the Philippines’ leading domestic carrier and low fare leader.(JAL)

http://www.mb.com.ph/BSNS2007031989851.html

Source: Manila Bulletin

ryanr

March 19th, 2007, 07:01 AM

^ dont forget to post a link to the source of the article;)

Sinjin P.

March 19th, 2007, 07:12 AM

^ Done but it's rather futile since they (Business Mirror) archive their news articles daily. I'd rather format to bold the source itself :)

I also have a lot of other posts that do not cite the article source but it would be tedious if I'd dig them all. :D But rest assured I won't forget to cite the links/sources in the future ;)

SKYLINEPIGEON

March 19th, 2007, 11:31 AM

cebu pacific should have bought all their aircrafts at one time when they first ordered from airbus that could have save them time nand money than purchasing another set of planes this time

Solblanc

March 19th, 2007, 02:59 PM

^^

Well, with a big order comes big financing, and with no track record when it came to buying new planes, 5J ordered as much as they could, given their resources. Now that they've transformed themselves, however, they can easily acquire financing for further orders.

@Skyblade:

Ryanair is... well, I've heard lots of people say nice things about how efficient and cheap it is, but I'm never flying low-cost again. My experience of Ryanair (CIA-CRL vv)was a bland one. Sure, it was on time, but the seat had ads, the magazine in the pocket was in tatters, and the FAs looked like they had nothing more to live for. No hint of a smile, I swear. I felt like I was riding a bus. Likewise, when it came to airports, we took off from the middle of nowhere to land in the middle of nowhere (you could qualify that, as when I was a kid, I considered LGW to be in the middle of nowhere, and I hated the fact that PAL wouldn't serve Heathrow. Of course they did serve Heathrow eventually, for like a couple of weeks, but that's another story). From the airports to the city center, I had to take buses with better seat pitch than the plane. All in all, Ryanair, with its low fares and callous efficiency, managed to kill the romance of air travel for me. Give me a legacy carrier any day.

kiretoce

March 19th, 2007, 07:15 PM

Contest between PAL, CebuPac getting more exciting (http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/bac/2007/03/19/bus/contest.between.pal.cebupac.getting.more.exciting.html)
Monday, March 19, 2007

THE competition in the local airline industry heats up as flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) has ordered two Boeing 777-300ER (extended range) as part of its expansion plans.

"The acquisition of the Boeing 777-300ER allows PAL to expand direct services between the Philippines and the United States," said PAL president Jaime Bautista.

PAL, a long-time Boeing customer, operates five Boeing 747-400s and three Boeing 737-300/-400s.

According to Bautista, PAL clients will definitely "benefit from the higher level of comfort and amenities that this high-technology aircraft brings."

PAL has a modern fleet and a route network that spans 24 foreign cities and 18 domestic destinations. Its first flight was on March 15, 1941, and has been operating longer than any other airline in Asia.

Separately, PAL has signed a letter of intent with GE Commercial Aviation Services (GECAS) to lease two Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.

"The Boeing 777-300ER is a great choice for Philippine Airlines, giving Asia's first commercial airline the most efficient airplane in the 300 to 400-seat segment, and offering its passengers the highest levels of comfort and reliability," said Rob Laird, vice president, greater China sales, Boeing commercial airplanes.

The 777-300ER is the world's largest long-range twin-engine jetliner and is capable of carrying approximately 365 passengers in Philippine Airlines' two-class configuration, with a maximum range of 7,880 nautical miles (14,594 kilometers).

PAL's main competitor Cebu Pacific earlier announced the acquisition of 20 airplanes as part of its expansion program.

The Gokongwei-owned Cebu Pacific has 14 aircraft and would soon have 32 planes once their orders are all delivered in 2013.

kiretoce

March 19th, 2007, 07:31 PM

Airport upgrade seen making Coron the next tourism gateway (http://www.asianjournal.com/?c=55&a=18917)
March 19th, 2007

Coron, Palawan -- Escaping to the clear waters of Northern Palawan may soon become easier than driving to the mall or commuting to the nearest park.

Home to kilometers of white sand beaches and endless blue waters, Palawan's Busuanga Island is opening up to more visitors with the scheduled expansion of the Francisco Reyes Airport in Coron town, the gateway to Northern Palawan's wonders.

The Busuanga Airport Development Project broke ground here Friday last week through a $3-million grant from the Korea International Cooperation Agency (Koica), the Korean government's development arm that has been undertaking infrastructure projects and aid programs in the Philippines since 1993.

Local officials are counting on the project to boost the economy in Busuanga and the rest of the Calamian Group (including Culion and Coron Island), Northern Palawan's scenic islands that have been among the province's top tourist destinations.

"Tourist arrivals and shipment of marine products are expected to increase even more once this important project is completed... With its accessibility greatly enhanced, Calamian's economic development will definitely accelerate as larger aircraft carrying more passengers and cargo start flying into this airport," said Palawan Rep. Antonio Alvarez (1st district) during ceremonies here on Friday.

Admitting that "the municipality is incapable of funding" such an undertaking, Coron town Mayor Mario Reyes Jr. said the expansion project was the fruition of a dream.

"I dreamed that someday Coron will have an international aiport... And now that our local aiport will undergo upgrading to international standards... my dream has turned into reality," Reyes told an audience of around 100 locals and guests gathered under noontime heat in front of a makeshift stage just meters away from the airport's unfinished runway.

Set to be completed in December 2008, the airport expansion project was jumpstarted in January with the extension of its existing runway from the current 900 meters to 1,200 meters. Runway paving would be completed by May, said Roy Gamosa , project manager from the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC).

Koica's contribution will also be spent on the construction of a new airport terminal, a facility that could hold six times more than the current terminal. Gamosa said the prospective terminal can accommodate 300 passengers at a time, while the one in use now can only have 50 people at one time.

Alvarez said the national government had earmarked a total of P1 billion for the project, of which P47 million had been allocated through the DOTC.

Upon completion, the airport expansion would allow bigger and faster aircraft to land in Busuanga, officials said. Currently, only light propeller aircraft, among them 19-seater LET410 planes, could bring in visitors to the island.

"We're using a small aircraft today because of the deficiency of the airport. With this development, we will be able to use our bigger aircraft, the 32-seater Dornier 328, because the airport will be strong enough to carry the bigger aircraft. And then we would be able to operate more flights because of this improvement," said Avelino Zapanta, president of project partner South East Asian Airlines, a carrier that currently operates the most flights to Busuanga.

Zapanta added that the airport improvement would cut the Manila-Busuanga flight from an hour to 35 minutes.

The airport would however continue to serve as a day facility, operating only from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

It was Alvarez who convinced Koica to invest in the expansion project three years ago, when the agency had just donated $5 million for a vocational training center in Davao City.

"I met the planners to show them the place, how beautiful it is, and I chartered a helicopter and treated them for lunch. And they were convinced that what is needed in this part is an airport. That's how it started," said Alvarez.

Korean Ambassador Hong Jong-Ki said his government's investment to Palawan was "a dual purpose project."

"We have quite a good number of Korean tourists coming here so by expanding this airport, we're helping the Philippines and Korean tourists," the envoy told the Inquirer newspaper, adding that Koreans frequent the country because of its "beautiful people, beautiful land, beautiful beaches" and proximity to Korea.

Addressing Coron locals, the ambassador said: "I sincerely hope that with the project's expected completion, the enhanced airport facilities will serve its purpose not only in coping with the projected increase in air travel, but also enhance the operational safety of aircraft operation in the Philippines."

Passenger traffic at the Busuanga airport has been on an uptrend in the last three years, Alvarez said. Arrivals at the airport were estimated at 33,000 in 2005, around a 50-percent increase from 16,630 arrivals in 2004.

Tourist arrivals projected to reach 400,000 by 2010, of which 250,000 are expected to come from foreign countries. Alvarez said around 30 percent of this total were projected to pass through the Busuanga airport.

Inspired by the anticipated gains from the project, Palawan Gov. Joel Reyes told his constituents: "Today, as we begin anew, we have to adopt a culture of tourism in our daily lives... Think of tourism on a 24-hour basis, put a smile on our face and let's make ourselves indeed the next big thing."

Sinjin P.

March 20th, 2007, 03:58 AM

P300-M domestic airport to rise
in southern tip of Luzon
By Danny Calleja
Correspondent

BULAN, Sorsogon—A P300-million commercial air transport hub will soon rise at a vast plain of this prime coastal town as one component of the government’s P15.5-billion eight-airport project set for completion this year.

It will be called the Bulan Domestic Airport and preparations for the full-blown implementation of this project such as site and right-of-way acquisitions and architectural surveys, among others, have been completed and “we are only awaiting the initial release of funds so that the construction proper is started,” Sorsogon Second District Rep. Jose Solis said over the weekend.

Once completed and made operational, this facility will formalize Bicol’s entry into the five super regions in the country with enhanced competitive advantages in terms of tourism and efficient mode of transport for goods and passengers, Solis said.

This eight-airport project that includes one in Casiguran, Quezon; Kalibo, Aklan; Iloilo; Bacolod; Western Visayas; Siargao, Ozamis and Cotabato is part of the 31 priority airport projects costing P94.37 billion that are targeted to be completed by 2011 under the government’s Medium-Term Public Investment Program (MTPIP).

Under this program, 10 new airports would be constructed and 21 others would be improved as among the social paybacks from the implementation of fiscal and other economic reforms of the Arroyo administration, Solis said.

At least 16 of them are in the Central Philippines, six in the North Luzon Agribusiness Quadrangle, seven in Mindanao and two in the Luzon Urban Beltway that would improve the transport of agricultural products and provide access to key tourism destinations nationwide, he said.

Insofar as Bicol region is concerned, Solis said Bulan Airport would not only decongest the existing Legazpi Domestic Airport in Albay but serve as the main facility for air cargoes and passengers coming in and going out of Sorsogon and Ticao Island of Masbate.

Source: Business Mirror
http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/03202007/economy05.html

stephencua

March 20th, 2007, 11:25 AM

taken from abs-cbnnews.com..

Cebu Pacific to launch Manila-Taipei flights on June 13

Cebu Pacific, the airlines unit of JG Summit Holdings Inc., said on Tuesday it will launch daily flights between Manila and Taipei in June.

The maiden flight to Taipei is scheduled for June 13, the airlines said in a statement. This is Cebu Pacific's eighth international destination.

The Manila -Taipei service will be operated using brand new Airbus A320 aircraft.

The flight departs from Manila at 11:10am, arriving in Taipei at 1:10pm. The flight then leaves Taipei at 1:55pm and arrives back in Manila at 3:55pm. Cebu Pacific will operate from Chang Kai Shek International Airport in Taipei.

"We hope that with the opening of this new regional destination, we will further encourage travel for both leisure and business sectors," Cebu Pacific president Lance Gokongwei said.

"Our Manila-Taipei offering will also provide better access for local residents of both countries to learn English and Mandarin, as they further assimilate themselves with the rich cultures both countries have to offer."

ramvingar

March 21st, 2007, 05:34 AM

To kinda seperate myself from my last post, I finally posted the first part of my Three-pronged Winter Vacation adventure in Airliners.net. The entire routing for this 3 week trip was LAX-NRT-MNL-ILO-MNL-NRT-NGO-CTS-NGO-MNL-NRT-PDX-LAX-MSP-LAX-HNL-MSP-LAX which definitely makes it the longest multi-segment trip I ever did so far. :D

Check it out! (http://www.airliners.net/discussions/trip_reports/read.main/96780/)

Thanks for sharing this Joe. It was a pleasure to read. Great pics and awesome narration. :okay:

airfoil

March 21st, 2007, 05:36 AM

hi everyone!! new here... so happy to know that there are other aviation enthusiasts out there... :lol: :lol: :lol:

kiretoce

March 21st, 2007, 05:37 AM

^^ :hi: Hello @airfoil! Welcome to SSC-Philippines! :colgate:

airfoil

March 21st, 2007, 05:38 AM

^^ :hi: Hello @airfoil! Welcome to SSC-Philippines! :colgate:

*cheers* thanks for the welcome!! :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

ryanr

March 21st, 2007, 06:27 AM

Welcome to the boards, airfoil:) So are you currently an active pilot?

airfoil

March 21st, 2007, 09:02 AM

hehehe.. well, im dreaming to be. hahaha.. piloting is such an expensive course... kinakailangan kung magkaroon ng hacienda..hahahah:nuts: :nuts: :nuts: :nuts:

ramvingar

March 21st, 2007, 09:17 AM

hehehe.. well, im dreaming to be. hahaha.. piloting is such an expensive course... kinakailangan kung magkaroon ng hacienda..hahahah:nuts: :nuts: :nuts: :nuts:

^^ Welcome Airfoil! :hi: Well I guess you should pay heed to your signature. :lol:

Hope you enjoy your stay here!

diz

March 21st, 2007, 09:24 AM

To kinda seperate myself from my last post, I finally posted the first part of my Three-pronged Winter Vacation adventure in Airliners.net. The entire routing for this 3 week trip was LAX-NRT-MNL-ILO-MNL-NRT-NGO-CTS-NGO-MNL-NRT-PDX-LAX-MSP-LAX-HNL-MSP-LAX which definitely makes it the longest multi-segment trip I ever did so far. :D

Check it out! (http://www.airliners.net/discussions/trip_reports/read.main/96780/)

When did you go to PDX? :lol:

Great news for PAL, bad news for 747-400 because it was the first aircraft I've ridden. (And it also had backseat tv's which was super cool but only had Animal Planet when there wasn't a movie on which was super lame...) :(

airfoil

March 21st, 2007, 09:26 AM

^^ Welcome Airfoil! :hi: Well I guess you should pay heed to your signature. :lol:

Hope you enjoy your stay here!

*pokes ramvingar* hehehe.. thats for motivation.. hahaha

ramvingar

March 21st, 2007, 09:31 AM

^^ Haha! Well I hope you achieve your dream. Becoming a pilot was one of my dreams too but it never got fulfilled (obviously). So I hope you fulfill yours. Good luck to you! :)

diz

March 21st, 2007, 09:34 AM

^^ Haha! Well I hope you achieve your dream. Becoming a pilot was one of my dreams too but it never got fulfilled (obviously). So I hope you fulfill yours. Good luck to you! :)

:lol: No, you were able to become a pilot and be an SSC user at the same time. I remember me saying at speech in preperatory. "I want to be a pilot!"

airfoil

March 21st, 2007, 09:37 AM

i always keep my hopes up^^ ^^ .... im currently a/c mechaninc..(still in school)... a pilot mechanic would be great..

diehardbisdak

March 21st, 2007, 09:54 AM

^^ talking about economic booster, I'd rather have the place transformed into a BPO Center Facility...

kiretoce

March 21st, 2007, 10:42 AM

How about an olympic village/stadium?

I agree. Rizal Memorial Sports Complex should be replaced, it's out-grown it's purpose. The Metro needs a modern and spacious sports complex and state-of-the-art athlete training facility.

flypinoy7

March 21st, 2007, 08:22 PM

ryanr

March 21st, 2007, 08:48 PM

:eek: first time i've seen a photo of both the A380 and B747 together. Its huge compared to the Qantas B747

kiretoce

March 22nd, 2007, 02:16 AM

this may be a little bit off-topic but a few days ago, the a380 landed here in la...i guess this pic just shows how large the thing actually is...will naia be able to support it?

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2007/03/19/2003626378.jpg

They say NAIA can accomodate the A380 but all other aircraft movements have to halt for the behemouth to taxi, take-off, or land.

xXx carlos xXx

March 22nd, 2007, 02:52 AM

Pal's new A320 fresh from the paintshop

http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=5940319

tigidig14

March 22nd, 2007, 03:02 AM

that arline was here in ohare yesterday, i was gonna go and see, but i would feel like a moron if i did hehehe

kiretoce

March 22nd, 2007, 03:26 AM

^^ What's so moronic about going to O'Hare just to view the A380 Tigs? :dunno:

ryanr

March 22nd, 2007, 03:30 AM

that arline was here in ohare yesterday, i was gonna go and see, but i would feel like a moron if i did hehehe

why? lots of people go over to see it.

ramvingar

March 22nd, 2007, 07:01 AM

this may be a little bit off-topic but a few days ago, the a380 landed here in la...i guess this pic just shows how large the thing actually is...will naia be able to support it?

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2007/03/19/2003626378.jpg

Wow! This picture really does put the scale of the A380 in perspective. It's huge!!

IsaganiZenze

March 22nd, 2007, 07:34 AM

here are some photo comparisons i have found

from flickr

by aeronerd
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a91/EnozAnewor/a380vs747.jpg

by bonehead5967
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a91/EnozAnewor/bonehead5967.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a91/EnozAnewor/bonehead59967.jpg

ryanr

March 22nd, 2007, 07:48 AM

^ The A380 doesnt look that big compared to the 747 in those pics but in the one compared to the Qantas 747 it looks huge! It must be the angle of the shot then.

SKYLINEPIGEON

March 22nd, 2007, 08:49 AM

the best way to compare imo is a shot from above

flypinoy7

March 22nd, 2007, 10:23 AM

yeah...in those pics they look like the same size...the photographer who took the pic i posted must have taken it from some weird angle or the plane was still landing...u would think the a380 would look smaller if its in the background of the 747 too...

allan_dude

March 22nd, 2007, 01:12 PM

Tiger Airways cuts Philippine flights (http://business.inquirer.net/money/breakingnews/view_article.php?article_id=56417)

Agence France-Presse
Last updated 05:52pm (Mla time) 03/22/2007

SINGAPORE -- Singapore-based budget carrier Tiger Airways said Thursday it would scale back flights to the Philippines because of unresolved regulatory issues.

From Sunday, the airline will fly to Clark Field north of Manila nine times a week, down from the current 14.

"Tiger Airways has been forced to make this cutback due to the continued uncertainty regarding the regulatory situation at Clark," the airline said in a statement.

An executive order had "practically rescinded" an open skies policy set out in a previous government directive eight months ago, resulting in foreign airlines facing possible restrictions, it said.

Executive orders are issued by the Philippines president, Gloria Arroyo.

The joint foreign chambers of commerce in the Philippines have asked the government to more clearly define rules on air traffic rights at Clark and another airport at nearby Subic Bay to ease the entry of low-fare carriers, Tiger Airways said.

"It is with deep regret that we will not be able to commit any more destinations or additional flights to Clark until the current regulatory uncertainty is resolved," Tiger Airways chief executive Tony Davis said.

IsaganiZenze

March 22nd, 2007, 02:12 PM

the best way to compare imo is a shot from above

i know this is a model..but how about this?

http://www.dauntless-soft.com/PRODUCTS/Freebies/Airbus380/a380_5.jpg

http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40728000/gif/_40728825_airbus_a380416.gif

a 1:200 scale model

http://www.flightonemodels.com/ProductImages/ads/Thumb_747vsa380%20sidebyside.jpg

kiretoce

March 22nd, 2007, 04:11 PM

kiretoce

March 22nd, 2007, 04:14 PM

i know this is a model..but how about this?

http://www.dauntless-soft.com/PRODUCTS/Freebies/Airbus380/a380_5.jpg

http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40728000/gif/_40728825_airbus_a380416.gif

a 1:200 scale model

http://www.flightonemodels.com/ProductImages/ads/Thumb_747vsa380%20sidebyside.jpg

Not that much of a difference between them two. Although, I still don't like the whale-like shape of the A380, the sleek B747 still has the edge on "style points." :okay:

ashton

March 22nd, 2007, 04:15 PM

^^ Yeah, what a loss or shall I say what a shame (re flight cut)...

SKYLINEPIGEON

March 22nd, 2007, 05:54 PM

the wings and engines of the a380 are massive compared to the b-747-400

tigidig14

March 23rd, 2007, 05:05 AM

jun_of

March 23rd, 2007, 06:15 AM

i heard that airbus is not making the cuts for the production of the airlines, they said (investor) that they might drop off the a380 if the production is not meet. from news earlier...

wouldn't this suffer the airbus because its very costly to make that big plane?

Airbus is having (or had) major production delays, something like 2 years behind schedule. I think there was a redesign of its electrical wiring system which exceeded the designed weight. The root cause is more of political squablings between France and Germany which are the major partners in the consortium. They wanted to produce and assemble more parts in their own respective countries. The delays have soured the interests of prospective airline customers and have switched to Boeing. They have fewer than 100 in firm orders. To break even, I think they need 200 - 300 orders.

bustero

March 23rd, 2007, 07:09 AM

Shame about Tiger Air. We are all the losers for this as we are forced to choose local airlines that are probably more expensive. Unfortunatel CAB is beholden to private interests and time and time again a good example of things that are wrong with this country.

The big diff can really be seen in the wings and fin. Look how much taller and larger it is, it's amazing.

The second phote above illustrates to me the huge difference in aesthetics between the A380 and the B47. Malaking ganda ang 747. The lines are gracefull as opposed to tub like. Of course this is purely opinion and all mine!

stephencua

March 23rd, 2007, 07:54 AM

aaaaaaaargh.. really sad news about tiger..
but at the rate that cebu pacific is expanding we might not feel tiger's loss too much.. although it would still be better if there were more competition and choices..

ramvingar

March 23rd, 2007, 08:22 AM

^ The A380 doesnt look that big compared to the 747 in those pics but in the one compared to the Qantas 747 it looks huge! It must be the angle of the shot then.

You have to remember that the B744 is much much closer in that shot. You have to take into account the wings of both planes and of course the space in between those wings! So imagine? Despite that distance, the A380 still looks huge!

venntro

March 23rd, 2007, 08:33 AM

More Asian direct flights going to Davao City

By Manuel T. Cayon
Reporter

DAVAO CITY—Silk Air and Asian Spirit would either open or add new international flights to this southeastern Mindanao seaport in what local tourism officials and tour operators hoped would send wider signal to at least the Asian regional airlines to try the southern Philippine destinations.

The twin moves of these airline companies were on top of continued familiarization or chartered flights from other Asian capitals, including a large tour from China.

Gian Carlo M. Caguiat, Mindanao manager for sales of Silk Air, said that it would add one direct Davao City-Singapore flight, increasing the direct flight weekly to four. The airline company operates daily flight on this route, with three of them still on a stopover flight in Cebu City. The additional direct flight would be started by May this year.

The decision was made on its 10th year of operating the Davao City-Singapore route that saw increasing occupancy rate of its 142-seater Airbus 320.

Within the last three years alone, the airline company carried 18,677 passengers, both inbound and outgoing, in 2004 that increased to 24,769 by last year. The Silk Air is one of six airline companies serving direct and connecting flights to Asian destinations.

Asian Spirit, on the other hand, would launch next month, on April 14, its nonstop flight on the Davao City-Incheon, South Korea route, according to Rhaine Kang of the I Love Golf (ILG) Inc.

Jacob Yuk, also of ILG Inc., said the route would be tested by a group of 60 Korean golfers from Incheon, which would take the Incheon-Clark-Davao extended flight. He said the golfers would come here on Saturday for a three-day tour and rounds of golf games in exclusive golf courses here.

Wanda Teo of the National Association of Independent Travel Agents also announced on a recent launching of a tourism project promoting this city that another new airline was already applying for the Hong Kong-Davao City route and would begin operation by either late May or early June this year. She did not name yet the airline but said the company would fly the Thursday and Sunday time slot using the 164-seater Boeing 737.

Other reported flights to Davao City, but mostly on extended trips to their national capitals to Clark airport in Pampanga, appeared to have conked out after Frederick San Felix, manager of the Air Transportation Office here, said that there were no applications filed so far with the Civil Aeronautics Board for the Davao route.

Sonia Garcia, director of the Department of Tourism for the Davao Region, said that Air Macau, which announced a December 2006 launching of its flight and had put up an office, said that its application was still being worked out. The flight would connect this city to the historically known trading port of Macau in China.

She said that travel and tour operators here have already positioned themselves for a wider link with counterparts in China in preparation for the expected mammoth attendance in the Beijing Olympic Games next year.

“We want to have those visitors there, even a little percent, to visit us here direct to Davao and we want our travel and tour companies here to prepare for it,” she said.

Silk Air’s Caguiat said that his company was already approached by a group of travelers and tourists from China “asking for a familiarization tour” to Davao City.

“We hope that we could generate a lot of interest from other foreign airline companies to make Davao its alternative destinations too,” Garcia said. Her office, has also launched the Gateway Davao, a localized promotion campaign to increase interest in using the Davao Airport for, at least, their departure area to whichever domestic or foreign destination

kiretoce

March 23rd, 2007, 08:35 AM

Is it just me, or does the A380's tail looks too large in proportion to the rest of the plane? :dunno:

bagel

March 23rd, 2007, 08:52 AM

I think the whole A380 looks too ungainly and very whale-like. It doesn't look graceful at all. Unlike the B747 which to this day still looks like it's flying fast, even it's still on the ground.

Edit: Oh I didn't see that Kimber said it looked like a whale too!

BoNduRanT

March 23rd, 2007, 06:55 PM

tigidig14

March 23rd, 2007, 07:38 PM

^ah ok

my cousin in law
may pics kasi kargador sya dun sa ohare
ill post it when i get it
but he said the wingspan are so large that it couldnt even accommodate ohare airport, one of the most advance airport of the world

ianers_ianized

March 24th, 2007, 01:15 AM

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a91/EnozAnewor/bonehead59967.jpg

The second phote above illustrates to me the huge difference in aesthetics between the A380 and the B47. Malaking ganda ang 747. The lines are gracefull as opposed to tub like. Of course this is purely opinion and all mine!

Yeah, I agree B744 is aesthetically beautiful than the shapes of A380. I don't like its balyena-shape body.

Ang lamang lang nya nya sa boeing eh yung wings na mukhang mas pnalaki at syempre yung seating capacity na up to 5-600.

sugarboy

March 25th, 2007, 08:17 AM

is there any reference in this thread to the first airline in the Philippines?

Lili

March 25th, 2007, 08:40 AM

A bit OT:

Updated:2007-03-20 17:59:07
Most Annoying Airline Behavior Is ...
By FROM THE EDITORS AT NETSCAPE
The most offensive airline behavior is incessant talking.
That's the word from Cheapflights.com, which polled 2,000 travelers to find out their airline etiquette pet peeves. And if you've ever been on a non-stop flight with a non-stop talker seated next to you, you'll no doubt agree. Coming in next were rapid seat-recliners, arm rest hogs, carry-on luggage abusers and seat back grabbers.

The most annoying airline behaviors:
- Incessant Talker, chatters non-stop: 23 percent
- Rapid Recliner, wheels up, in your lap: 20 percent
- Arm Rest Hog, elbow wrestling, you lose: 12 percent
- Carry-on Champ, bashes bags left and right: 12 percent
- Seat Back Grabber, grabs your seat to get up: 11 percent
- Who Me?, yes, you; turn off your cell phone: 10 percent
- Flight DJ, iPod loud enough for all: 3 percent
- The Boozer, unscheduled landing anyone?: 3 percent
- Mad Bladder, quaff-n-go maniac: 1 percent

What's the important takeaway for travelers?
"The next time you are in a window seat, don't feel so bad about asking your fellow aisle-mates to move so you can get to the lavatory. Just don't grab the person's seat in front of you as you get up and on your way," said Carl Schwartz, director of marketing for Cheapflights.com.

What can travelers do to avoid future airplane etiquette violations?
"Considering that incessant talkers and rapid seat recliners accounted for nearly half of poll responses, it seems that these are by far the most intolerable offenses to fellow travelers. Refraining from these two activities alone will go a long way in creating a more pleasurable flying experience for everyone," Schwartz said.

For me, the most annoying airplane experience is if you happen to sit beside someone with bad breath or B.O.

SKYLINEPIGEON

March 25th, 2007, 09:28 AM

non stop crying babies!!!!

ashton

March 25th, 2007, 09:41 AM

^^ Passenger sitting beside you taking off his shoes and it smells like.. wtf? :)

ryanr

March 25th, 2007, 10:17 AM

People who turn on their cellphones while we are still in the aircraft are my biggest pet peeve. I mean, they cant wait another 1 or 2 minutes?!?:rant: They've already lasted many hours in the flight without using the cellphone and the less than 5 minutes of waiting is too much for them. Some people are even worse and turn on their cellphones whilst we land. Isn't this among the most critical part of the flight when the aircraft has to be in communication with the tower? Sadly, many of the offenders are Filipinos. They could use a little more discipline.

It annoys me so much when we are taxiing to the gate and someone starts chatting on the cellphone. Then we get a barrage of new text messages alarms from a handful of cellphones. Then some idiot thinks its safe to stand up and grab their hand carry baggage while the plane is still moving. :mad:

Skyblade

March 25th, 2007, 08:29 PM

I was supposed to post this just after it happened but it took me nearly a week to remember. ^^;; Anyhow, I was in LAX last Monday morning to sight the first A380 arrival. Here's the pics I took:

The park in front of In-N-Out Burgers at Sepulveda Blvd. which faces runways 24L/R, a favorite among local enthusiasts!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v74/Skyblade04/A380/a380065.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v74/Skyblade04/A380/a380066.jpg

World Airways MD-11F in it's new c/s!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v74/Skyblade04/A380/a380006.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v74/Skyblade04/A380/a380030.jpg

Some 30 minutes prior to the scheduled arrival, I decided to join a couple Airliners.net members to spot at the 96th Street Bridge which is south of the approach path. There was police stationed there but thankfully they didn't shoo us off...

Sepulveda Blvd. was jammed!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v74/Skyblade04/A380/a380203.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v74/Skyblade04/A380/a380286.jpg

A routine Monday morning at LAX...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v74/Skyblade04/A380/a380177.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v74/Skyblade04/A380/a380215.jpg

People on top of the old control tower
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v74/Skyblade04/A380/a380204-1.jpg

The clinic
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v74/Skyblade04/A380/a380225.jpg

And some buildings at Century Blvd
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v74/Skyblade04/A380/a380218.jpg

Talk about PERFECT timing: this UA 744 from SYD came in prior to the A380, making comparisons easy and convenient for us :D
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v74/Skyblade04/A380/a380235.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v74/Skyblade04/A380/a380244.jpg

Here she comes!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v74/Skyblade04/A380/a380246.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v74/Skyblade04/A380/a380248.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v74/Skyblade04/A380/a380250.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v74/Skyblade04/A380/a380253.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v74/Skyblade04/A380/a380256.jpg

Welcome to Los Angeles!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v74/Skyblade04/A380/a380265.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v74/Skyblade04/A380/a380274.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v74/Skyblade04/A380/a380278.jpg

mahdial_x5

March 25th, 2007, 08:33 PM

MAN! ive been looking for RC models of aircraft, preferably BIG ones such as the 747 or a340 series, passenger of course, no smaller than an a330

I CANT FIND ANY!?!

gas powered preferably, or electrical. im aware that gas powered 747=$$$$$$
so maybe small Cessna-gas powered

WHERE can i find then!?! any online stores?!

thanks

kiretoce

March 25th, 2007, 08:33 PM

Cool! Awesome photos Joe! :okay: The A380 is massive! It boggles the mind how something that huge can get off the ground at all! :lol:

IMPRESARIO

March 25th, 2007, 09:22 PM

Wow Airbus A380! looks sooo massive, madaming wheels,heheh

ryanr

March 26th, 2007, 12:32 AM

Superb pics, Joe! Its massive...how did it sound compared to the B747? I heard its much quieter.

mahdial_x5

March 26th, 2007, 01:02 AM

Oh man thats amazing superb pic there!

sorry, i missed them

Sinjin P.

March 26th, 2007, 05:43 AM

Nice photos Skyblade! :okay:

People who turn on their cellphones while we are still in the aircraft are my biggest pet peeve. I mean, they cant wait another 1 or 2 minutes?!?:rant: They've already lasted many hours in the flight without using the cellphone and the less than 5 minutes of waiting is too much for them. Some people are even worse and turn on their cellphones whilst we land. Isn't this among the most critical part of the flight when the aircraft has to be in communication with the tower? Sadly, many of the offenders are Filipinos. They could use a little more discipline.

It annoys me so much when we are taxiing to the gate and someone starts chatting on the cellphone. Then we get a barrage of new text messages alarms from a handful of cellphones. Then some idiot thinks its safe to stand up and grab their hand carry baggage while the plane is still moving. :mad:

How true, how true. In my 5 years of Cebu-Manila and Manila-Cebu flights, I've never had a flight where this does not happen :lol:

bustero

March 26th, 2007, 07:05 AM

OUtstanding Pictures Skyblade. Where there a lot of Aneters there, seemed like quite the party. Looks like Sepulvaeda was jammed for this event (am I right) and even the tower looks like tons of people looking out for the whalejet. Perfect comparison with the 747 too. Really looks like a huge people carrier and to think this could probably be just the short version! OT I like that In&Out burger joint, so cool to spot planes from. I'm amazed in an era of 9/11 you can just so easily peek through the fence!

diz

March 28th, 2007, 03:52 AM

I wonder if PAL will buy these A380s. I saw at the wiki, that Emirates Airlines bought 40+ of the A380. They goin' crazy.

IsaRic

March 28th, 2007, 05:44 AM

I wonder if PAL will buy these A380s. I saw at the wiki, that Emirates Airlines bought 40+ of the A380. They goin' crazy.

better fuel efficiency, more passenger capacity? im up for it!

hey how much does this cost compared to the new line of 747's?

xXx carlos xXx

March 28th, 2007, 07:41 AM

boeing 747-800 is worth between $272.5M-$282.5M

while the A380 is worth between $296M-$316M

diz

March 28th, 2007, 08:40 AM

^^ That's not alot (FOR THEM :D) But yeah, I would definately go for A380. I saw a documentary on the A380, and the interior is fabulous.

kunoL8

March 28th, 2007, 09:08 AM

^^ yeah, maybe PAL can purchase/lease an A380. they can def. fill it up on their US routes.

umm, has anyone tried riding on a DC-9 jet? i will be riding a NWA DC-9 jet this april and i just wanna know how it is compared to a 737 or an A319, perhaps?

ewh1

March 28th, 2007, 08:40 PM

i sat in the very back of a DC-9 before.... noisiest place ive ever sat in.
but it should be comfortable. they usually have a 3x2 config.

ryanr

March 28th, 2007, 09:09 PM

noisiest plane i've ever ridden was PAL's Fokker 50s.

kunoL8

March 29th, 2007, 12:16 AM

i sat in the very back of a DC-9 before.... noisiest place ive ever sat in.
but it should be comfortable. they usually have a 3x2 config.

really? so, i'm assuming it's noisier than the 737. i guess i'll be needing noise cancelling headphones then. :lol: noisiest plane i've ever rode on was one of SEAir's 9 seater planes.

tigidig14

March 29th, 2007, 03:06 AM

the noisiest ever and scariest too
was the one with those two mechanical propeller, elese sa tagalog, ala tora-tora :lol:
i rode one and actually that was united airlines, from watertown, ny to phily

Skyblade

March 29th, 2007, 05:59 AM

really? so, i'm assuming it's noisier than the 737.
Indeed it is as a passenger when seated in the rear (compared to the 737-200), esp. considering that the engines are attached to the fuselage vs. the wing. It makes all the difference about where to sit on a rear-engined. I haven't tried the rear of a DC-9 yet as most of my NW DC-9 flights were near the front and the closest I've had was row 30 on an AA MD-80 (which is powered by a variant of the JT8 which operated the -200).

On the opposite end of the spectrum, when seated in the front on the MD-90 and 717, you could just barely hear the engine and more of the sound of wooshing air. I absolutely loved my first MD-90 flight w/ JL last January...gimme those V2500s on the back of a MD any day! :D

how did it sound compared to the B747? I heard its much quieter.

Unfortunately I didn't pay much attention to decibel levels but the Trent 900s did seem somewhat quieter than a 744 and had a unique sound to it as well. Then again, I never laid my ears on a Trent engine yet. ;)

venntro

March 29th, 2007, 06:08 AM

Cebu Pacific will soon fly to 4 new Asian cities

By Lenie Lectura
Reporter

CEBU Pacific (CEB) will fly to four more cities in Asia this second quarter, riding on the wings of growth in the air travel business.

CEB vice president for marketing and product Candice Iyog told reporters Tuesday evening that the airline unit of the Gokongwei group is in the process of securing approvals from aviation officials of the various countries where it intends to fly from Manila.

“We are talking to the counterparts of our CAB [Civil Aeronautics Board] in those countries,” Iyog said. “We intend to open three to four new regional destinations all in the second quarter.”

She did not identify the new routes pending approval of the airline’s applications.

Meanwhile, Iyog said passenger volume from January to March this year will reach more than one million.

“In January, we recorded 370,000 passengers and about 385,000 in February, she said. “This March, we will probably hit around 400,000.”

CEB also teamed up with European car rental firm Europcar, which will be the airline’s official in-land transport service for self and chauffeur-driven vehicles. This will cover its domestic and regional destinations.

This new marketing partnership will initially be available in Manila and for Cebu’s domestic and international airports starting April 1. The service will be available in Davao, Iloilo, Cagayan and Bacolod in the next quarter.

“We plan to make the service available to all domestic routes by end of 2007,” said Europcar president Socorro Clavano.

Clavano said Europcar expects to corner three to four percent of CEB’s passengers per flight to subscribe to the service.

Europcar will initially deploy a fleet of 150 vehicles at the Manila and Cebu airports.

SKYLINEPIGEON

March 29th, 2007, 09:46 AM

[QUOTE=venntro;12394677]Cebu Pacific will soon fly to 4 new Asian cities

four new cities??? or routes that heading is confusing

kiretoce

March 29th, 2007, 09:57 AM

^^ I think that the article meant four totally new destinations, and not added routes to already established cities on their network. :colgate:

stephencua

March 29th, 2007, 11:06 AM

im guessing that at least two of those destinations would be somewhere in china.. as for the others.... i cant think of other destinations in asia.. hmmm.. guess we'll just have to wait and see..

Sinjin P.

March 29th, 2007, 12:27 PM

Cebu Pacific bares summer fare discount (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryID=71823)

Cebu Pacific, the airlines unit of JG Summit Holdings Inc., will offer discounted airfares starting Friday until next week in a book-and-buy summer promo to attract more tourists.

"We hope that many people will take advantage of these low fares and travel to the neighboring Asian countries to visit friends and relatives. More importantly, we hope to be able to encourage tourist arrivals with these low fares as well. This is our way of continuing to support the country's tourism agenda," Candice Iyog, vice president for marketing and product, said in a statement.

The company said it will offer one-way seats for most of its Asian routes at P999 while selected one-way domestic routes will be priced at P99. The seat sale will run from Friday until April 5, a Lenten holiday.

The P999 per seat promo includes Manila-Singapore, Manila-Bangkok Manila-Kuala Lumpur, Manila-Jakarta, Cebu-Hong Kong, Cebu-Singapore, Davao - Hong Kong and Davao-Singapore. Travel period is from May 1 to July 15.

Selected domestic routes include Cebu-Puerto Princesa, Cebu-Kalibo, Cebu-Clark, Cebu-Zamboanga, and Davao- Zamboanga. Travel period begins on April 23 and ends on July 15.

Tickets can be purchased via Cebu Pacific's Website, www.cebupacificair.com. The seat sale fare is non-refundable and is exclusive of government taxes and surcharges.

In February, Cebu Pacific offered the same ticket fare for Asian routes with a travel period that started on February 21 to May 31.

kiretoce

March 29th, 2007, 11:14 PM

Cathay Pacific increases Hong Kong-Cebu flights to 11 (http://www.bayanihan.org/html/article.php/20070329103050329)
Thursday, March 29 2007

Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific has increased direct flights between Hong Kong and Cebu from seven to eleven times weekly, boosting the central Philippine island-province's tourism industry.

"There is so much potential for Cebu. The demand has increased that's why we have increased the number of flights," said Eddie Kong, Cathay Pacific-Cebu manager.

The additional flights are scheduled every Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, which began last March 25.

Kong said many tourists travel to Hong Kong as a stop, mainly for shopping.

But the additional flights, he said, can connect conveniently to many other airline destinations within Asia, Europe, North America and the Southwest Pacific.

Kong said majority of the passengers taking the Hong Kong to Cebu flights are from Canada, US, Europe and the Middle East, in addition to the usual markets of Korea, Japan and China.

"Cebu is doing well in bringing Koreans and Japanese tourists, but it also needs to bring in more European tourists," Kong said.

Kong said convenience and accessibility are key factors in increasing traffic to Cebu and he is optimistic the four additional Hong Kong-Cebu flights will redound to a growth in tourist arrivals to the province.

"Cathay Pacific believes in the marketability of Cebu as a destination, otherwise, they won't be increasing the flight frequencies," Department of Tourism (DOT) Undersecretary Phineas Aburo said.

Alburo, along with some staff of Cathay Pacific and the local media, welcomed the 110 passengers and crew of Cathay Pacific, who arrived at the Mactan Cebu International Airport Monday.

In line with this development, Kong said the airline is contemplating on having the additional flights on a permanent basis.

"But it will depend on the regulatory approval," he said.

While Cathay Pacific's allowable travel rights is between 1,700 passengers weekly, Kong said the airline is now enjoying travel rights of 2,200 passengers per week.

Kong said Cathay Pacific decided to mount the additional four flights this month because the months of March to May are considered to be the "summer peak seasons" for traveling.

He also lauded the DOT 7 for helping the airline increase its flight frequencies to Hong Kong.

Cathay Pacific already flies 37 times a week to Manila.

Earlier, Tourism Secretary Joseph "Ace" Durano said aside from Cathay Pacific, two other airlines want to increase flights from Shanghai, China and Osaka, Japan to Cebu.

kiretoce

March 29th, 2007, 11:16 PM

Open skies and reciprocity (http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=emilJurado_mar29_2007)

An on-again, off-again issue has once more reared its ugly head with the lobby for open skies, which allows every foreign airline to enter Philippine skies unrestrained.

What is rather strange is that Subic-Clark Alliance for development council Edgardo Pamintuan also seems to be rooting for open skies to the extent of joining the lobby against Executive Order 500-A. The order restricts foreign airlines from landing at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport on the exercise of what is known as “Fifth Freedom” rights, which enable foreign carriers to land and then pick up passengers bound for other destinations, not back to their ports of origin.

The point of controversy is Executive Order 500, which earlier granted unlimited and unrestricted entry to foreign airlines like Tiger Airways.

Lobbyists led by a former tourism secretary claim that Tiger Airways has cut back on its flights (from 14 to 9) to and from Clark as a result of the change. They argue that the government policy against open skies sets back tourism efforts. They say it is unfair since it cuts short the validity of the operating permit of airlines like Tiger Airways.

The real issue here, as it has always been, is reciprocity and not tourism. Since the use of the Philippine skies partakes of sovereignty, there must also be reciprocity. The government just can’t go on giving unlimited and unrestricted rights to Philippine skies to any foreign airline without also getting some concessions from the governments of these airlines.

To open our skies to all foreign airlines would also be unfair to local carriers like Air Philippines, Cebu Pacific, Asian Spirit and Philippine Airlines. Our carriers are not subsidized, or helped in any way, by the government. On the other hand, foreign airlines are not only government-owned. They are also heavily subsidized.

The issue is not tourism since it is a fact that more frequent flights and more airline seats do not mean more tourists coming in.

Again, the bottom line is reciprocity.

kiretoce

March 29th, 2007, 11:37 PM

Blue Sky ahead for YVR (http://www.richmondreview.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=45&cat=23&id=862921&more=)
By Martin van den Hemel March 29 2007

The head of the Vancouver International Airport Authority said a recently announced international air policy could mean more prosperous times are ahead for the airport.

Larry Berg, president and chief executive officer of the authority, spoke at a Richmond Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Tuesday at the Best Western Richmond Hotel.

Berg spoke about Blue Sky, a policy that will allow foreign air carriers to serve any point in Canada, without restrictions, and then continue to the United States.

According to a 2006 study by InterVistas, this type of air service liberalization translated into significant growth.

“In all cases, it found that following liberalization, air traffic growth averaged between 12 per cent and 35 per cent,” Berg said.

“But more importantly, the study found that air traffic growth generated new economic opportunities.”

Berg also discussed the Transit Without Visa pilot program, which allows people from Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia to fly through Vancouver and on to the United States without the need for a Canadian visa.

“This put the Vancouver Gateway on a more even footing with competing U.S. gateways such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle.”

Just one new daily flight between Vancouver and Asia translated into 221 person years of work and more than $10 million in annual wages.

Berg also discussed the $2-billion Canada Line rapid transit project, which will connect downtown Richmond, the airport and Downtown Vancouver.

Berg said the airport spur will actually open next year, and that section will be used for testing the Canada Line cars in advance of its official opening in 2009.

diz

March 30th, 2007, 12:02 AM

ramvingar

March 30th, 2007, 05:38 AM

^^ I took the NWA DC9 once to Nashville. It was hella noisy. But like Ryan, the noisiest plane I've been on was PAL's Fokker 50.

tigidig14

March 30th, 2007, 05:54 AM

explain me what is noisy

ryanr

March 30th, 2007, 06:26 AM

^ the prop engine

bustero

March 30th, 2007, 02:51 PM

bustero

March 30th, 2007, 02:55 PM

Actually the quietest flight i've ever had was with the silenced DC9's of 5J. These can be very quiet and smooth to the point I was suprised we were starting to get airborne because I thought we still were just taxiing because the noise level was so low.

Skyblade

April 1st, 2007, 09:04 AM

^^Hey Bustero, were you seated more towards the front?

Monsi

April 1st, 2007, 11:13 AM

Cebu Pacific 5J325 Airbus A320 arrives late...
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r244/Legazpeep/CebuPacificA320arriveslate.jpg
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r244/Legazpeep/CebuPacificAirbusA320touchingdownru.jpg
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r244/Legazpeep/boardingPALandCebuPacific.jpg
^PR278 and 5J326 to Manila simultaneously taking in pax.

HUWAG KANG BIBITAW BIGLA!
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r244/Legazpeep/Wagkangbibitawbigla.jpg
^5J326 Airbus A320 poised to take off on runway 06 as PR 278 Boeing 737-300 waits for her turn.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r244/Legazpeep/DSC06828.jpg
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r244/Legazpeep/DSC06829.jpg
^5J328 Airbus A319 about to taxi towards runway 06.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r244/Legazpeep/DSC06803.jpg
PR278 Boeing 737-300 just before boarding was called...

Sou-jiro

April 1st, 2007, 11:28 AM

Hi, just wondering if anyone here is actually an active or has had any flying lessons...

has anyone flown any cessna type aircraft?? particularly

cessna 172sp
cessna 172 r
cessna 182t

these seems to be a commonly used training plane for begginners

ewh1

April 1st, 2007, 11:38 PM

I was poking around Youtube and found this.
those PAL F/As are a crazy energetic bunch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ew8Aig_gAw

kiretoce

April 2nd, 2007, 01:00 AM

^^ :lol: That was fun and funny! Though I'd be annoyed as hell if they did the safety instructions on a flight like that. :hahano:

amras

April 2nd, 2007, 04:02 AM

haha,... that's so funny! reflects the age of PAL :lol:

bustero

April 2nd, 2007, 11:47 AM

^^Hey Bustero, were you seated more towards the front?

I wasn't in the last few rows, I usually sit in the exit rows, flying 5J So towards the middle of the plane. 5J's DC9 config had dual side by side emergency exits at row 17 /18 ( I think) , over the wings. Amazingly quiet. Even quieter than the Gulf Air A340 (cant remember which version) I flew to Bahrain, that was way quiet as well one of the best 8 hour rides ever, dead calm almost no tubulence (or could it be the superior airbus suspension:) ) no noise whatsoever, of course I was in first so pretty far from the engines.

bustero

April 2nd, 2007, 11:53 AM

Very funny video. But not too long ago. Just 2002!

tigidig14

April 2nd, 2007, 05:41 PM

napanood ko kay jessica soho yung documentary tungkol sa mga stewardess mapalalaki o babae. girl gota be atleast 5'3; guys, 5'6. maganda ang benefits, after 10 years libre sa airfare ang pamilya mo: magulang o anak. malaki din swelde, saka demanding ngaun ang trabaho. meron din syempreng naging stewardess na ayaw na kasi feel nila atsay.

ravenhawk

April 2nd, 2007, 06:34 PM

Cool Cebu Pacific Pictures!

ewh1

April 3rd, 2007, 05:32 AM

Just some buzz from other forums

Air Philippines has just ordered 3 Bombardier Q300's with a option for 3 more.

stephencua

April 3rd, 2007, 06:47 AM

taken from abs-cbnnews.com..

RP carriers protest plan to open up to international airlines

Philippine carriers on Tuesday protested plans by the government to grant foreign airlines full access to two international airports.

Flag-carrier Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific Air, Air Philippines, Asian Spirit and Pacific East Asia Cargo Airlines called an executive order, yet to be signed by President Arroyo, a "threat to the national interest."

A full page advertisment in all major daily newspapers said this would give foreign airlines "full access" to two international airports just north of the capital, a privilege they claimed no other country would grant Philippine carriers.

The order also permits foreign airlines to pick up passengers at the two airports for onward flights to third country destinations.

This would allow foreign carriers to "operate their own network of international flights from bases in Diosdado Macapagal International Airport at the former US military base at Clark, north of Manila, and the Subic Bay International Airport, making them equivalent to Philippine air carriers in all but name."

"By bestowing a favored competitive position on foreign airlines, the (order) would have a serious adverse impact on other routes operated by Philippine carriers," the airlines said.

They charged that the change would put some P150 billion ($3.12 billion) in investment and 15,000 jobs at risk and also imperil the long-term growth of the tourism sector.

"The envisioned unilateral grants force the nation to give up valuable bargaining chips and put the government in a weak negotiating position" in any aviation talks with other nations, they warned.

The carriers called on Mrs. Arroyo to "refrain" from passing the executive order and proposed a dialogue with her to thrash out the issue.

Spokesmen for the President or from the civil aviation office were not immediately available to comment. Agence France Presse

bustero

April 3rd, 2007, 06:53 AM

^^lets see her resolve , this is a black and white issue as can be seen from the numbers of pax increase, inspite of more flights by all players foreign or local. Unfortunately I'm afraid she's beholden to these players and will choke.
The truth will be in the pudding when she actually changes the make up of CAB which are LT appointees.

Air Phil ordering Q-300's. An interesting strategy for them , more complimentary with PR than the old one which shadows and compete's with PR.

ryanr

April 3rd, 2007, 08:14 PM

"threat to national interests" :| :rant: Those local carriers should grow up and learn to compete. DMIA is far better off if it has open skies. The investment opportunities brought forward by open skies far outweigh any negative consequences on the local aviation industry.

Solblanc

April 3rd, 2007, 08:55 PM

tigidig14

April 3rd, 2007, 09:29 PM

mababa kasi tax sa dmia

Solblanc

April 3rd, 2007, 09:52 PM

that doesn't change the fact that when passenger numbers for the DMIA rose, the passenger numbers for NAIA didn't decrease. It even increased. DMIA stole zero passengers from NAIA.

bustero

April 4th, 2007, 12:51 PM

...ugh! Of course we want open skies! What's PAL afraid of? Emirates making CRK a stopover for their australia flights using daily A380s? That can only happen after 20 years when there's a proper terminal in DMIA. This is annoying! Protect NAIA, sure, but DMIA should be a free-for-all! If anything, opening up the DMIA would actually expand the market.

They should look at the facts. The DMIA hardly stole any passenger traffic from NAIA. In fact, the NAIA even registered growth in passenger traffic. PAL should thank the DMIA for not congesting their precious NAIA hub.

Apparently the local airlines have preferred to miss this fact!!! The sad part is that these complaining airlines don't even want to or can't serve the same destinations!

Naku I'm really praying for this one (for my own selfish reasons as I have been using these cheap airlines personally:) ). This will only enlarge the market and is so obviously good for the PHilippines. In fact these guys can even make so much money connecting the tourists from Clark to the tourist destinations like Boracay, Cebu, Davao and Pujada Island (hehe plug). Hindi naman iyung buong bansa ang open skies so there is still lots of last mile business for them!

NOVO ECIJANO

April 4th, 2007, 08:27 PM

the government is just anticipating for the surge of activities in
clark after declaring as a freeport.

bagel

April 4th, 2007, 11:35 PM

Boeing's 787 Dreamliner Surpasses 500 Customer Orders in under Three Years

EVERETT, Wash., April 03, 2007 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] today announced the 500th customer order for the 787 Dreamliner with a follow-on order from Japan Airlines Corp. (JAL).

"Today we are celebrating some great news with one of our great customers," said Scott Carson, president and chief executive officer, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "This is an unprecedented achievement for Boeing and yet another wonderful milestone for the 787 program. We are very gratified that the 787 will play a key role in the future plans of JAL and so many other industry-leading airline customers."

The JAL order for five 787-8 airplanes, in addition to several orders from unidentified customers, brings the 787's order total to 514 airplanes from 43 customers since its launch on April 26, 2004, making it the fastest-selling commercial airplane in history. This increases JAL's total 787 order to 35 airplanes from their previous order of 30 in December 2004.

"The 787 will be a key airplane on a variety of international and domestic routes, said Kunio Shimizu, vice president of Engineering & Quality Assurance Department for the Americas, Japan Airlines International Corp. "We are expecting the benefits of the 787 to provide efficiency and flexibility in our route planning and are also looking forward to the wonderful flying experience the 787 will provide to our customers."

"Surpassing the 500 order mark this early in the program - more than a year before the first airplane is delivered - shows that Boeing made the right choice in our point-to-point business strategy, and that the 787 team made the right choices in designing the airplane," said Mike Bair, 787 vice president and general manager." This is an enormous compliment to the people around the world who are working hard to ensure we keep the promises we've made to our customers."

The 787 provides passengers with a better flying experience and operators with a more efficient commercial jetliner. Using 20 percent less fuel per passenger than similarly sized airplanes, the 787 is designed for the environment with lower emissions and quieter takeoffs and landings. Inside the airplane, passengers will find cleaner air, bigger windows, more stowage space and improved lighting.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner will lead the industry into the next generation of flight using the latest in ground-breaking technology to provide airlines with a family of airplanes that allows them to take their passengers where they want to go, when they want to go.
###

Their selling like hotcakes!

kiretoce

April 4th, 2007, 11:51 PM

kiretoce

April 4th, 2007, 11:54 PM

Battle over Open Skies heats up (http://www.philstar.com/philstar/News200704050402.htm)
By Ding Cervantes The Philippine Star 04/05/2007

The battle for "open skies" continues to heat up as petitioners and counter-petitioners besiege President Arroyo.

The Fair Trade Alliance (FTA), after publishing full-page advertisements in leading newspapers, urged the Civil Aviation Board (CAB) to defend the country’s patrimony and sovereignty by resisting pressure from foreign airlines.

On the other hand, Clark Investors and Locators Association (CILA) president Frankie Villanueva squeezed through birthday well-wishers at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) to hand the President a petition for her to repeal Executive Order 500-A.

The President was at the Clark Freeport yesterday to activate the $9.3 million state-of-the-art radar system at the DMIA.

CILA and other petitioners have urged the repeal of EO 500-A and crafted EO 500-B which they want Mrs. Arroyo to adopt in its place.

"One of the centerpiece reforms of this (Arroyo) administration that is highly acclaimed by development experts throughout the world is the liberalization of the Philippine aviation sector," the petition said, noting that "the full utilization of the country’s extensive network of airports… is a vital element for the country’s economic development and the fulfillment of the vision to make the Philippines a transport and logistics hub for the Asia-Pacific region."

The draft EO 500-B is proposing that open skies be declared in Clark and Subic.

The FTA, in opposing EO 500-B, said it supports CAB’s strong position of carefully studying and weighing applications for increased air access to the Philippines.

"Since the country’s skies are part of our sovereign territory and national patrimony, flight entitlements by foreign carriers must be evaluated on the basis of reciprocity, the welfare of the local aviation industry and national interest," the group said in a statement.

They stressed that they are not anti-trade liberalization per se but are for calibrated protection and calibrated liberalization.

"There must be agreements of reciprocity and the domestic aviation industry must benefit from any possible opening up of Philippine skies," they added.

CILA’s petition countered that such reform "is being opposed by special interest groups that favor an environment of protectionism." It also belied the claim that the reform is a threat to national interest, saying rather that it is a threat to "vested interest."

They noted that "reciprocity since the ’90s has been defined in a broader sense to mean the exchange of rights, freedoms, and opportunities of equal or equivalent value."

"The entry of low cost carriers (LCCs) at the DMIA has led to enormous opportunities and economic value to Central Luzon," the petition said.

bagel

April 5th, 2007, 12:04 AM

^^ I wonder how Airbus Industries is taking this. A huge blow to their bottomline.

I think it's about business philosophies too and air travel trends-- the A380 is more suitable for old style hub and spoke systems and the 787 shows how travel patterns have shifted away from hub and spoke towards more direct flights. But also, the A380, though it toured everywhere on test flights, is struggling to finally get deployed. But the 787 isn't even built.

Clarkent

April 5th, 2007, 06:22 AM

Big carriers buck SEAir’s fleeting plan
--Darwin G. Amojelar
Monday, April 02, 2007

THE fleeting program of Southeast Asian Airlines (SEAIR) hit a snag after bigger rivals in the domestic market opposed the newbie’s tie-up with Tiger Airways.

Avelino Zapanta, SEAIR president and chief executive, said the delivery of two Airbus A320s has been delayed for two months because of the opposition filed by airline carriers before the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB).

Last September SEAIR signed a lease agreement with Tiger Airways for the two brand-new 180-seater Airbus A320 aircraft. The airline will employ an additional 100 Filipino technical professionals, including pilots and cabin crew, to run its expanded operation.

The carrier was already in the process of recruiting 18 additional pilots and 32 flight attendants before the expansion plan was put off.

“Their ground of opposition is the speculation that SEAIR is being used by Tiger Airways to access domestic operations, which is completely false,” Zapanta told reporters.

He said Cebu Pacific, Philippine Airlines, Asian Spirit and Air Philippines have filed separate oppositions before the CAB.

“Their fertile imagination is being given credence by the CAB,” he added.

Zapanta explained that the tie up with Tiger Airways is only a business relationship, whereby SEAIR will lease two aircrafts from the Singapore-based low cost carrier.

In addition, he said, SEAIR will use Tiger Airways’ distributing system products.

“[The expansion will be delayed] until such time that the [leased agreement] is approved, we definitely can’t begin. But somehow this will be resolved. The elections fever is seemingly overshadow[ing] everything,” he added.

The new aircraft will be used to fly to Singapore and Macau from Clark, and double passenger traffic from 225,000 at present.

Zapanta also said that SEAIR plans to fly to Korea, Taiwan and Japan.

The airline will acquire four aircraft to retire its smaller planes.

“We are thinking to acquire four higher density aircrafts to replace our LET 410, a 19-seater plane,” he said.

“It’s under evaluation right now, but it will be this year,” he added.

Currently, SEAIR has a total of 11 aircraft, of which, four are Dornier 328 and seven, Let 410 UVP-E. It flies to 18 domestic routes including Caticlan (Boracay) and Cebu in Visayas; Clark in Northern Luzon; Busuanga, Cuyo, El Nido, Puerto Princesa and Rodriguez in Palawan; and Camiguin, Cotobato, Zamboanga, Jolo, Tawi-Tawi in Mindanao

The company posted a net income of P29 million last year from P17 million in 2005.

“We’re doing alright, that is why we are expanding. The last two years have been profitable,” Zapanta said.

Sou-jiro

April 5th, 2007, 03:37 PM

Yes Cessna aircrafts are commony used for training though there are other aircrafts that could also be used...I was trained on Cessna 152 since the rental/usage/fuel charge is cheaper at 4k per hour as compare to the Cessna172 which is around 7.5k per hour,the cockpit configuration on both is roughly the same. The big notable differences between those aircrafts is that C150/152 seats 2,C172 seats 4.and Cessna 182 seats 4 plus cargo or 6 if pax only including pilots....and since you needed to accumulate 200hrs of flying before getting your commercial flying certificate,you definitely would learn how to cringe....

how does its feel to fly the cessna 152....the place im seing has mainly cessna 172s & a few 182s & some tompiper I was also told about the different ratings you could get but thats after you're beyond your single prop
licence. I'tbe cool to get a twin engine rating then you could get other rating such as night rating. well the accumulation of hours here is structured slightly differently & in different stages though i cant remember everything i was told by the instructor I spoke to.

oz.fil

April 8th, 2007, 04:36 AM

I think it's about business philosophies too and air travel trends-- the A380 is more suitable for old style hub and spoke systems and the 787 shows how travel patterns have shifted away from hub and spoke towards more direct flights. But also, the A380, though it toured everywhere on test flights, is struggling to finally get deployed. But the 787 isn't even built.

did the a380 land in manila? :dunno:

i think i saw it flying out of melbourne when i was coming home from school :lol:

ravenhawk

April 8th, 2007, 05:45 AM

how does its feel to fly the Cessna 152....the place im seing has mainly Cessna 172s & a few 182s & some tompiper I was also told about the different ratings you could get but thats after you're beyond your single prop
licence. I'tbe cool to get a twin engine rating then you could get other rating such as night rating. well the accumulation of hours here is structured slightly differently & in different stages though i cant remember everything i was told by the instructor I spoke to.

Theres really not much difference at all except for the fact that you can bring several of your buddies in the Cessan172 and has more range than that of Cessna152 thus allowing you more time to experiment more on maneouvers and is certainly more powerfull. Let's just say that the two were comparable to a Lancer and a Galant. If ever I was loaded I would fly Cessna 172 myself especially if wanted to do some romantic rondezvous in the air. though I would definitely not suggest doing this till you reach your legendary 69th flying hour lols!:lol:

There are four stages in flying:

Private Pilot Certificate ground school+40hrs of flight
total cost (200k+60K on equipments+allowances)

Commercial Pilot Certificate ground school+160hrs of flight
total cost (800k+30k on equipments+allowances)

Instrument Flying groundschool+simulator+20hrs of flight
total cost (200k+allowances)

Twin Engine Rating groundschool+simulator+20hrs of flight
total cost (250K+aloowances)

After taking all of them,its up to you on how will you gonna get the 1'500hrs of flying required by the big carriers to become first officers....pretty rough huh? Anyone still wondering why pilots is asking for big salaries?

Sou-jiro

April 9th, 2007, 02:27 AM

^^^^ totally agree these are the stages alright!!:lol:

i'd love to get a cpl...or atleast a twin engine rating....& night rating...

in Philippines i think 1500 hours is reasonable considering that some other countries ask for 3 times that amount for just a 737/A320 type aircraft

i know cebupac asks for atleast 1500 hours for they,re A319/320 pretty tough & expansive:lol: not for the faint hearted..it amazing how some people can continue to have the will considering the cost.

I wonder how career prospects in the near future are for those training in PI....

Solblanc

April 10th, 2007, 10:08 AM

10 April 2007
PAL boosts summer flights

MANILA - Philippine Airlines is expanding capacity on flights to several popular domestic and international destinations as the busy summer travel season gets underway.

Services to five domestic points -- Davao, Kalibo, Tagbilaran, Cagayan de Oro and Tacloban -- will be augmented with more frequencies and higher-capacity aircraft during the period from late March to early June.

Davao receives the biggest boost, with two daily flights added to the regular three-times-daily service. The new frequencies represent a nearly 40% capacity increase on PAL's main route to Mindanao.

The service to Kalibo, gateway to the resort island of Boracay, goes from double-daily to thrice-daily during May as PAL puts in an extra 1,092 seats weekly on the country's most popular tourist route over this peak month.

Capacity to Tagbilaran more than doubles as a second daily flight, utilizing the 134-seater A319, is added, also for the duration of the month of May. The route is presently served by the 114-seater Boeing 737-300.

Cagayan de Oro receives a fourth flight, initially four times weekly from 21 April and then daily from 07 May 7 to 03 June, while Tacloban gets a third flight every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday during May.

PAL's international timetable for summer features frequency hikes for its services to Beijing, Xiamen, Nagoya, Okinawa, Seoul, Busan, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas and Vancouver.

Beijing adds a flight every Monday to go to five times weekly, while Xiamen goes daily. Nagoya likewise goes daily with a new Monday service and Okinawa gets a third weekly flight.

PAL also ramps up its Korea service with extra A320 flights every Monday and Friday during May to go six times weekly, while Seoul adds a second daily flight using the A320 to augment the regular A330 service.

Finally, the trans-Pacific services receive a much-needed capacity boost with an additional wide-body A340 flight every Tuesday (from 17 April to 22 May) to Los Angeles and every Sunday (from 22 April to 20 May) to San Francisco.

The service to Vancouver and Las Vegas adds a flight every Friday to go five times weekly for the duration of PAL's summer timetable until 27 October.

Well, PAL is expanding. Ever so slowly, but they're expanding nonetheless.

venntro

April 10th, 2007, 10:50 AM

Asean 'open skies' seen to gain momentum this year

4-country agreement seen to boost regional traffic

By Riza T. Olchondra
Inquirer
Last updated 10:30pm (Mla time) 04/09/2007

AIR LIBERALIZATION efforts are expected to gain momentum this year as the the 2008 deadline for air liberalization in the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) approaches, said aviation consultancy Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (Capa).

Components of regional air liberalization efforts have been drafted, such as a memorandum of agreement to ease limits on air freight services and aircraft leasing, and a four-country multilateral liberalization agreement.

"The January '07 announcement that four Asean countries will conclude a multilateral liberalization agreement is undoubtedly a good sign," Company COO Derek Sadubin told the Philippine Daily Inquirer via e-mail.

The agreement for the so-called "East Asia Growth Area" covers designated regional points in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

"The agreement does not include capital city routes, but removes most capacity and frequency limits on 13 destinations. An older multilateral agreement had covered some of these, but has largely fallen into disuse from lack of interest," Sadubin said.

Interest is high at the moment, but opposition is equally great.

In a full-page ad published last week, Philippine carriers urged the government not to grant foreign airlines "full access" to the international airports in Clark and Subic since the same privilege is not granted by other countries to Philippine carriers.

Flag-carrier Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific Air, Air Philippines, Asian Spirit and Pacific East Asia Cargo Airlines said the P150-billion local aviation industry and 15,000 jobs would suffer if the privileges granted to foreign airlines would not be given to local carriers.

The government, meanwhile, has remained adamant that opening up the country's skies to foreign carriers would promote Philippine tourism, local airlines, and allied industries such as airline catering and maintenance as well.

mhe-ann

April 10th, 2007, 10:52 AM

here are some pics I took last week

MIA
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p4d60338275b32ebf8d1b40c3d1ec8785/e9facdc1.jpg

Ito sa Mactan
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p2005fe3ca31cfcae8257f0c8659c35b4/e9faccec.jpg

Cebu Pacific Plane
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p6a662c27d8f8fa08f809eab9286c0c8b/e9facbd6.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/pec0628e00c1c63d09312c0b99e1d9c1e/e9facbb4.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/pc8b552b54d687601e57adde21c7bd0fc/e9facb2f.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p2eb7dd562fbdded22d62d8e638a857e2/e9facb0f.jpg

habagatcentral1

April 10th, 2007, 10:55 AM

^^ Parang pamilyar ang pre-departure area na yan ha? Mactan no?

mhe-ann

April 10th, 2007, 10:55 AM

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p438dc38012f9c271f33c7de965bd064a/e9fac32f.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p4f3f53550f9b493625350aba97e68601/e9fac8eb.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p0302f5e9cba58b442f3a3394af87c3f2/e9fac8e6.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p0302f5e9cba58b442f3a3394af87c3f2/e9fac8e6.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/pb8c990ec19f9eb94e36c9dc80e5c63b3/e9fac88d.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/pd7e38bd8af242b22cbfe5bb8f5e337a7/e9fac3a5.jpg

@bernie, sa Mactan nga po un (2nd pic). I'll post pics inside Mactan Airport on that thread. :)

bustero

April 10th, 2007, 04:51 PM

Good Luck to us all. I hope the government does not waver and we get ASEAN open skies.

Sou-jiro

April 10th, 2007, 05:35 PM

i always miss out when Pal is here,so this time i took as much as I could

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y195/justsomeguy02/1.jpg?t=1176214417

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y195/justsomeguy02/2.jpg?t=1176214631

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y195/justsomeguy02/3.jpg?t=1176214867

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y195/justsomeguy02/4.jpg?t=1176214937

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y195/justsomeguy02/5.jpg?t=1176215052

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y195/justsomeguy02/6.jpg?t=1176215091

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y195/justsomeguy02/7.jpg?t=1176215125

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y195/justsomeguy02/8.jpg?t=1176215263

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y195/justsomeguy02/9.jpg?t=1176215310

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y195/justsomeguy02/10.jpg?t=1176215340

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y195/justsomeguy02/11.jpg?t=1176215464

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y195/justsomeguy02/12.jpg?t=1176215542

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y195/justsomeguy02/13.jpg?t=1176215610

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y195/justsomeguy02/14.jpg?t=1176215643

IAMME

April 10th, 2007, 06:40 PM

^^ I like the last picture...

kiretoce

April 10th, 2007, 10:36 PM

What's the turnaround time between PAL's ETA and ETD from SYD?

kiretoce

April 11th, 2007, 02:03 AM

More PAL seats to boost RP tourism (http://www.bayanihan.org/html/article.php/20070410134310884)
Tuesday, April 10 2007

With eyes focused on promoting domestic tourism, the Philippine Airlines is expanding its flight capacity to several popular domestic destinations as the busy summer travel season gets underway.

At the same time, the Philippines' flag carrier is also expanding the seating capacity on its international flights in an effort to bring in more foreign tourists.

Services to five domestic points -- Davao, Kalibo, Tagbilaran, Cagayan de Oro and Tacloban -- will be augmented with more frequencies and higher-capacity aircraft during the period from late March to early June.

In its flight capacity expasion plan, Davao stands to receive the biggest boost, with two daily flights added to the regular three-times-daily service.

The new flight frequencies represent an almost 40 percent capacity increase on PAL's main route to Mindanao.

The air shuttle service to Kalibo, gateway to the resort island of Boracay, goes from double-daily to thrice-daily during May, as PAL puts in an extra 1,092 seats weekly on the country's most popular tourist route over this peak month.

PAL's capacity on the Tagbilaran run more than double with coming of a second daily flight, utilizing the 134-seater A319, also for the duration of the month of May. The route is presently served by the 114-seater Boeing 737-300.

Cagayan de Oro, which is a popular destination for merchants and tourists will be having a fourth PAL flight, initially four times weekly from April 21 and then daily from May 7 to June 3, while Tacloban gets a third flight every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday in May.

Meanwhile, PAL's international timetable for the summer, features frequency hikes for its services to Beijing, Xiamen, Nagoya, Okinawa, Seoul, Busan, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas and Vancouver.

Beijing adds a flight every Monday, to go to five times weekly, while Xiamen goes daily. Nagoya likewise goes daily with a new Monday service and Okinawa gets a third weekly flight.

PAL also ramps up its Korea service with extra A320 flights every Monday and Friday during May to go six times weekly, while Seoul adds a second daily flight using the A320 to augment the regular A330 service.

Finally, the trans-Pacific services receive a much-needed capacity boost with an additional wide-body A340 flight every Tuesday (from April 17 to May 22) to Los Angeles and every Sunday (from April 22 to May 20) to San Francisco.

The service to Vancouver and Las Vegas adds a flight every Friday to go five times weekly for the duration of PAL's summer timetable until October 27.

kiretoce

April 11th, 2007, 02:08 AM

Tourism volume (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=73094)

Quezon City is probably larger than old Macau but just this week, authorities there announced Macau’s tourist arrivals reached a record-breaking 20 million, a doubling in five years. I am not surprised. You can feel the onslaught of tourists in Macau. There is an obvious effort to make Macau as tourist friendly as possible but this is still work in progress.

Director Joao Manuel Costa Antunes of the Macau Government Tourist Office attributed the dramatic growth in tourist arrivals to the inscription of more than 23 heritage monuments and sites in UNESCO’s World Heritage List; the liberalization of the gaming industry which has attracted investments in world-class hotels, entertainment, dining, shopping and convention /exhibition facilities; and Macau’s intrinsic Old World charm and unique cuisine which give the destination an appeal that suits various market segments. However, the downside to fast growth can be plainly seen in the grimly plain tower blocks that now smother the old city and its outlying islands. Still, as The Economist observed, "much of Macau’s spirit remains, including the omnipresence of the past, a tolerance of diversity and an outsider’s sense of mischief."

Visitors include rich and powerful Chinese, wishing to indulge in games of chance that are illegal on the mainland, as well as tourists from nearby countries. The top 10 tourist markets of Macau are mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Korea, the US, Singapore, and Thailand. China remains the largest source market, nearly 54 percent of total visitor arrivals. The Philippines generated more than 139,000 visitors to Macau – a hefty 90-percent increase over the same period last year.

Ms. Narzalina Lim, general manager of the Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) in the Philippines said that Macau has now become a destination of choice for Philippine residents. There are direct flights of Air Macau four times a week from NAIA and daily flights of Tiger Air out of Clark International Airport.

Also benefited by the cheap flights of the budget airlines to Macau are our workers. Maybe Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines should mount direct flights to Macau to replace the flights cancelled by Tiger Airways due to problems with our local Civil Aeronautics Board.

Sinjin P.

April 11th, 2007, 05:31 AM

PAL revenues up 5-6% in fiscal ’07–Bautista
NET PROFIT LIKELY UNCHANGED DURING THE COMPARABLE PERIOD (http://businessmirror.com.ph/04112007/companies01.html)
By Lenie Lectura
Reporter

PHILIPPINE AIRLINES (PAL) posted a five to six-percent increase in revenue, while net profit remained flat for its fiscal year 2007 ending March.

Jaime Bautista, PAL president, told reporters yesterday that the figures are still preliminary since the March figures have yet to be audited.

“There was almost a flat growth in terms of profitability. Our revenues meanwhile went up by five to six percent,” Bautista said.

Though the flag carrier’s net profit was flat compared to a year earlier, Bautista said PAL would still post its third consecutive profit streak since entering rehabilitation.

“It is still a profit for three consecutive years,” Bautista said. “We are happy about that.”

The flag carrier posted consecutive annual profits of $17.6 million in fiscal 2004-2005 and $28.7 million in 2005-2006.

PAL’s financial statements are now expressed in US dollars following the adoption of Philippine Accounting Standards No. 21. In compliance, the company has determined the US dollar as its functional currency. Accordingly, the Philippine peso and currencies other than the dollar were considered foreign currencies.

Bautista said passenger volume and traffic likewise improved by six percent compared to the previous fiscal year.

“We still did good in spite of all the increases, more particularly fuel cost, which makes up 35 percent of our total operational expenses,” Bautista said.

For now, Bautista said PAL has no plans of seeking an additional fuel surcharge. “We have not filed any recent new applications for an increase in fuel surcharge.”

Bautista said travel picks up in December but slows down at the start of the year. Sales can taper off until the second or third week of March. After that, the peak season for the airline starts all the way to July.

During the Holy Week, PAL said it recorded about 140 flights in a day. Of these, 60 are international destinations.

“Normally, we have 110 flights in a day for both domestic and international but come peak season we are having up to 140 flights daily,” Bautista said.

PAL is the country’s largest airline firm controlled by business tycoon Lucio Tan.

In a statement issued yesterday, PAL said it was expanding capacity on flights to several popular domestic and international destinations as the summer season gets underway.

le Reine

April 11th, 2007, 08:17 AM

that's a lot of dedication, Someguy. Thanks for the pics.

Sou-jiro

April 11th, 2007, 01:46 PM

^^^ thanks....i was happy to see that A330 on a busy morning lots of arrivals around that time...

Kimber ETA & ETD is around 9:45am to 11:45am PAL arrives in Sydney from Melbourne where it usually arrives around 6am sometimes earlier...

Another one I always miss out on is the Jetstar A330 : here in Sydney morning arrival from Ho Chi Minh

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y195/justsomeguy02/15.jpg?t=1176290216
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y195/justsomeguy02/16-1.jpg?t=1176290340

oz.fil

April 11th, 2007, 04:03 PM

lols i saw a jetstar a330 when i was at school, it flew over the campus :D

kiretoce

April 11th, 2007, 09:03 PM

PAL launches Manila-Zambo Mabuhay Class Service (http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/zam/2007/04/12/bus/pal.launches.manila.zambo.mabuhay.class.service.html)
By Bong Garcia Thursday, April 12, 2007

Philippine Airlines (PAL) will be launching a ceremonial introduction of PAL's new Mabuhay Class Service using the brand-new Airbus A319/A320 aircraft on Monday between Manila and this city.

PAL President and Chief Operating Officer (CEO) Jaime Bautista, who will be the guest of honor, will lead the top airlines officials on Monday's activity.

"We have been using such type of aircraft since late last year, but Monday's activity is the formalization of PAL's Mabuhay Class Service," Albert Bangayan from PAL Zamboanga Branch office told Sun Star On-line Wednesday.

The aircraft, A319/A320, is a 134-seater plane which PAL bought last to boost its service to the riding public.

Bautista will brief the invited guests from the media about PAL's new Mabuhay Class Service between Manila and this city during the activity on Monday.

Meanwhile, PAL has been recently cited by the International Air Transport Association (Iata) as the first and only Philippine carrier thus far to hurdle the Iata Operational Safety Audit (Iosa), the internationally accepted benchmark for global safety management in airlines.

Iata Vice President for Asia-Pacific Andrew Drysdale congratulated PAL for achieving the global standard.

Drysdale said PAL joins the ranks of 131 other global airlines on the Iosa registry.

Rolls-Royce

April 11th, 2007, 09:29 PM

Nice shots, btw, how long's the flight from Sydney to Cairns? We're planning to have few hours in Sydney before flying to Cairns because it's way too tiring coming over from London.

whyte

April 12th, 2007, 09:30 AM

GMA to inaugurate new Iloilo airport
By DAVID ISRAEL SINAY

ILOILO City – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will inaugurate the new Iloilo airport of international standards on April 16.

The sprawling new airport, which straddles the municipalities of Sta. Barbara, San Miguel and Cabatuan, will open for commercial flights on April 21.

Mayor Jerry Treñas said the opening of the P6.187-billion new Iloilo airport will also mean the closure of the existing domestic airport in Mandurriao district here.

Today, Treñas said property developer Rockwell Land will discuss with him possible investments at the old airport site.

Rockwell Land is one of the five property developers interested to acquire the 54-hectare Mandurriao airport.

Treñas said he will also be meeting with representatives of SM Prime Holdings and Ayala Land.

Representatives of Robinsons Land and Megaworld met with the city mayor much earlier.

Treñas said he would like the winning bidder to develop the old airport into a theme park, build in there a convention center, establish a hospital or set up an information technology (IT) park for business process outsourcing.

Treñas envisions the theme park to be similar to Enchanted Kingdom and Star City as this would draw more tourists to Iloilo.

Treñas said he would also want investors to put up a 5,000-seater convention center in line with his dream of making the city into the country's "convention center."

Also, with the fast growing industry on business process outsourcing, Treñas said putting up an IT park would encourage call centers to invest in this city. He said several call center companies conveyed interest to invest here but the lack of facility holds them back from doing so.

The government is pushing for the sale of the property after it decided to transfer airport operations to a new site on a 188-hectare lot straddling the municipalities of Sta. Barbara, Cabatuan and San Miguel.

The new airport will be a new gateway to the Visayas for air travelers in the country and worldwide. It has a runway 2.5 kilometers long and 45 meters wide, a passenger terminal with 12,000 square meters of space and a 1,281-square meter cargo terminal.

During her visit here January last year, President Arroyo is confident that the privatization of the Mandurriao airport would further boost local tourism and economic activities.

She also said the privatization would generate funds for major development projects in Iloilo and the whole Panay Island.

The President said part of the proceeds of the airportt privatization would be used to finance the construction of a first-class highway interconnecting the provinces of Iloilo, Capiz, and Antique up to Caticlan, Aklan the gateway to the world-famous tourism destination -- Boracay

sugbuanon

April 12th, 2007, 10:10 AM

edit

sugbuanon

April 12th, 2007, 10:13 AM

deleted

oz.fil

April 12th, 2007, 11:22 AM

does qantas use the a330 to manila regularly or is it like a 'spur of the moment' thing? cuz when i went they used their domestically configured 763 !!!

Sou-jiro

April 12th, 2007, 12:18 PM

^^ Sydney -Cairns shouldnt be more than 2 1/2 hours.

Sou-jiro

April 12th, 2007, 12:22 PM

does qantas use the a330 to manila regularly or is it like a 'spur of the moment' thing? cuz when i went they used their domestically configured 763 !!!

they use both but its probobly safe to say they use 767er 70% of the time...
they use use to get they're 747-300......i guess they cant fill them up??...PAL uses A333 in Oz in its always packed.

nice pics above btw.....nice to see qantas A330....even better an Austrian A332?....didnt even know they flew to Manila....I should have taken more Pics of Austrian B777 they dont fly to Sydney anymore..they reducing they're fleet...i head they're getting rid of the Airbus fleet preffering to maintain Boeing widebodies....so i dont know what the future hold for that A330 above :D

thanks for sharing the pics

Dvorak

April 12th, 2007, 12:51 PM

ey mates! kamusta ang mga taga OZ??

@Rodney.. kamusta na parramatta?? don ka pa rin ba??

kiretoce

April 12th, 2007, 04:29 PM

nice pics above btw.....nice to see qantas A330....even better an Austrian A332?....didnt even know they flew to Manila....I should have taken more Pics of Austrian B777 they dont fly to Sydney anymore..they reducing they're fleet...i head they're getting rid of the Airbus fleet preffering to maintain Boeing widebodies....so i dont know what the future hold for that A330 above :D

Austrian Airlines doesn't have scheduled commercial flights to MNL. They're only there since for their maintenance checks provided by Lufthansa Technik whenever they're in the Asia-Pacific region. :okay:

@sugbuanon, thanks for sharing the photos with us! :colgate: Your brother works for Lufthansa Technik right?

Sinjin P.

April 12th, 2007, 04:46 PM

04.08.07 PR 854 (Cebu to Manila)
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=460399

04.08.07

Inside the plane. Fiesta Class (Economy) kami, ang dumi ng window :ohno:

http://img458.imageshack.us/img458/121/p1020836copyhx9.jpg

Fiesta Class

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/593/p1020837copyzy7.jpg

At may reflection pa...

http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/9207/p1020839copylp7.jpg

http://img458.imageshack.us/img458/1949/p1020841copyfj2.jpg

Pati ito hindi pinalampas pa

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/6889/p1020842copyyy1.jpg

Hay naku, ang daming palpak. Imagine, nakaupo at nakaseatbelt na ang mga kapatid ko ngunit may mga lumapit claiming that they own those seats! Pumasok agad ang kakilala ni dad sa PAL, and sa last minute eh.... Tsada! Upgraded na kami, including yaya, to Mabuhay (Business) Class. Lol, first time ko po du'n

http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/4529/p1020843copylb2.jpg

Business Class

http://img365.imageshack.us/img365/5086/p1020845copyma8.jpg

http://img361.imageshack.us/img361/7288/p1020846copytt0.jpg

Me... (Cardinal Vidal and I were just 2 seats apart. Isa nang karangalan para sa akin na makasakay siya)

http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/5493/p1020847copyze5.jpg

More of Business Class amenities

http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/4570/p1020850copyjb8.jpg

http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/2482/p1020851copypk0.jpg

Final look at MCIA

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/6945/p1020853copyja6.jpg

Hala, nasa himpapawid na kami?!? Ouch, I only have quite a few aerial photos (if not only one) since I was too dizzy on ascent and I didn't dare to stare at the view at the window

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/643/p1020854copytk8.jpg

Business Class Meal (would you believe that's orange juice? Akala ko nagkamali sila ng pagbigay ng mango juice sa'kin. And oh one thing, the meal is really not Pinoy in taste)

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/4610/p1020855copyow2.jpg

Sa kalagitnaan eh humingi ako ng blanket...

http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/1435/p1020856copyoy8.jpg

Somewhere in Cavite

http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/4416/p1020858copydj4.jpg

Lumapag na kami... Makati

http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/9584/p1020859copyqy0.jpg

Buksan na ang NAIA 3 please! Kusa na siyang nabubulok

http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/5371/p1020860copylu5.jpg

Baggage Claim Area

http://img398.imageshack.us/img398/2554/p1020861copypu8.jpg

sugbuanon

April 12th, 2007, 05:45 PM

Austrian Airlines doesn't have scheduled commercial flights to MNL. They're only there since for their maintenance checks provided by Lufthansa Technik whenever they're in the Asia-Pacific region. :okay:

@sugbuanon, thanks for sharing the photos with us! :colgate: Your brother works for Lufthansa Technik right?

you are welcome kimber

yup he's been working there for a year already..

tigidig14

April 12th, 2007, 07:45 PM

galing sugbuanon bat ka pala nakapasok dyan nagdedeliver ka ng mga pagkain para sa flightattendants haha
ngaun ko lang nalaman na meron palang austrian air satin

ryanr

April 13th, 2007, 02:37 AM

Thanks for the pics, sugbuanon! Nice to see foreign carriers being worked out by Lufthansa Teknik Philippines.

sugbuanon

April 13th, 2007, 05:48 AM

galing sugbuanon bat ka pala nakapasok dyan nagdedeliver ka ng mga pagkain para sa flightattendants haha
ngaun ko lang nalaman na meron palang austrian air satin

security guard na kase ako sa lufthansa.. hehe

Thanks for the pics, sugbuanon! Nice to see foreign carriers being worked out by Lufthansa Teknik Philippines.

you are welcome ryan..

oz.fil

April 13th, 2007, 07:07 AM

security guard na kase ako sa lufthansa.. hehe

LOL what if they catch you taking fotos, they might think your a terrorist or something! :lol:

kiretoce

April 13th, 2007, 05:47 PM

"Filipino First" -- but which Filipinos? (http://www.asianjournal.com/?c=193&a=19478)
By Raul Pangalangan April 13th, 2007

MANILA, Philippines -- Nationalism, how many crimes have been committed in thy name? The opponents of Open Skies equate nationalism with protectionism. Today in the 21st century, we must ask: Protection for whom? If in the 1950s the banner cry was "Filipino First," today we ask: But which Filipinos? In the case of aviation, the airlines or the flying public? If indeed we are a democracy, would the Palace care to do a headcount of aviation-generated jobs vis-a-vis the riding public who will benefit from Open Skies, coupled with the local jobs created by an invigorated tourism industry?
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued Executive Order 500, adopting an "open skies" policy at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Pampanga, aiming to advance the Clark Special Economic Zone as a tourist and investment hub.

Foreign low-cost airlines soon began to operate from Clark: Tiger Airways of Singapore, Air Asia of Malaysia, Hong Kong Airlines of China, Asiana Airlines of South Korea, as well as the cargo handler United Parcel Service (UPS). There has since been a 110 percent increase in passenger traffic through Clark, boosting the local tourist industry and real estate business.

But now the full text of EO 500 is no longer available on Malacañang's website. Ms Arroyo has since reversed herself and issued EO 500-A, restricting the Open Skies privilege and effectively barring the budget airlines from Clark -- they who, in the first place, helped pioneer Clark's success.

The papers report that a Pampanga-based group, Pinoy Gumising Ka Movement (PGKM), has urged President Arroyo to revoke EO 500-A as "the battering ram of the unrelenting campaign of Manila-centric 'imperial dragons' to sabotage DMIA's viability as a global gateway." GMA seems indeed to have awakened, and she is now poised to issue EO 500-B, which will allow a "pocket Open Skies" just for Clark.

The leading Filipino airlines have banded together in protest. In an eerie adaptation of Chairman Mao's "united front" tactics, Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific Air, Air Philippines, Asian Spirit and Pacific East Asia Cargo Airlines have branded the impending EO 500-B a "threat to the national interest." It is a sell-out of the national patrimony, they say, because it grants privileges to foreign airlines without requiring them to grant reciprocal obligations to their Filipino counterparts. Even worse, they say, EO 500-A gives foreign airlines what amounts to "Most Favored Nation" treatment, as if it were a local airline. It is this unilateral surrender of "valuable bargaining chips" that they bewail.

The Fair Trade Alliance (FTA) has chimed in, calling on the Civil Aviation Board to defend the country's sovereignty. "Since the country's skies [are] part of our sovereign territory and national patrimony, flight entitlements by foreign carriers must be evaluated on the basis of reciprocity, the welfare of the local aviation industry and national interest."

The reciprocity argument is seductive to Filipinos, both the politically correct as well as the politically naïve. Indeed, why shouldn't the government champion Filipino industry? After all, the competition have their own home governments to lawyer for them.

At the outset, the FTA really loses me when it speaks, in one breath, of "the welfare of the local aviation industry and national interest." Haven't we heard that one before, at the height of the Cold War? A spokesman of the military-industrial complex famously said, "What is good for General Motors, is good for the United States." Now that General Motors has been overtaken by Lexus, BMW and Mitsubishi, don't you think it has been good news to all motorists, American and non-American alike, Filipinos included?

But at its core, the reciprocity argument ignores the potential of our tourism industry. Why speak of just reciprocal flights? Why not reciprocal benefits?

Tourism relies on the arrival of warm bodies in our even warmer weather. Increasing the in-bound flights -- by whatever airline, from whatever country of origin -- should be in our interest. The upper limit, if at all, of in-bound flights should match the maximum number of tourists that we can absorb.

But reciprocity says the opposite. The upper limit is how many flights Philippine Airlines (or whatever local airline) can send to that country. If, say, there are 100 planeloads of Korean tourists each month who wish to experience "WOW Philippines," why limit the number of flights to 50 if that is all that PAL and its Korean counterpart can absorb?

Why not open the skies, so to speak, to other airlines who wish to send more business our way? Why protect the business of the aviation moguls under the banner of nationalism, and sacrifice the thousands of mom-and-pop operations that have thrived in the downstream bonanza from the Korean influx? Why, aren't moms and pops Filipinos, too? Why cabin the meaning of reciprocity to counting flights to and from each country? Why not weigh reciprocity in terms of the benefits that we all can reap?

The airline industry says that this debate is about aviation, not tourism, because more flights do not automatically mean more tourists. That argument sounds good in the abstract. But EO 500-A has created a simple fact: The tourists have come. To constrict the flights now and keep the tourists home simply doesn't make sense.

It is amazing how the rhetoric of protectionism continues to have currency today. The Filipino First policy has proved itself a failed experiment, and the Filipino bourgeoisie itself, unequal to the task of building a national economy. It is time to bury these statist orthodoxies, and find a nationalism that makes common cause with the common folk.

Monsi

April 14th, 2007, 01:49 PM

Sou-jiro

April 14th, 2007, 02:38 PM

ey mates! kamusta ang mga taga OZ??

@Rodney.. kamusta na parramatta?? don ka pa rin ba??

Hello Erwin!...how r yah?...yeh Im still in the Parra area..

does anyone know if PAL is going ahead with the upgrades of they're product? on widebodies?

bustero

April 14th, 2007, 06:21 PM

Don't know if anyone has posted this before but it is a nice picture.
http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2007/q1/070315a_pr.html

Boeing 777-300ERs Selected by Philippine Airlines

Return to News Release

SEATTLE, March 15, 2007 -- On the airline's 66th anniversary today, Philippine Airlines (PAL) and The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] announced the order of two Boeing 777-300ER (Extended Range) commercial airplanes, with purchase rights for two additional 777-300ERs. PAL is a long-time Boeing customer and currently operates five Boeing 747-400s and three Boeing 737-300/-400s.

PAL, the national flag carrier of the Philippines, mounted its first flight March 15, 1941 and has been operating longer than any other airline in Asia. It has a modern fleet and a route network that spans 24 foreign cities and 18 domestic destinations.

The fuel-efficient 777-300ER is the world's largest long-range twin-engine jetliner and is capable of carrying approximately 365 passengers in Philippine Airlines' two-class configuration, with a maximum range of 7,880 nautical miles (14,594 kilometers).

http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2007/photorelease/q1/070315a_lg.jpg

flymordecai

April 14th, 2007, 08:29 PM

That is beautiful. The wings look like they're silver or chrome? I like the effect and the simplicity of PAL's design.

Skyblade

April 16th, 2007, 07:42 AM

Thanks for posting your report, Sinjin! Looks like you got to fly N754PR! Lucky! :D

Thanks as well, Monsi, for more pics of LGP!

I'm currently in Hamburg right now hoping to attend Aircraft Interiors Expo '07 in a couple days. I'll definitely give my share of pics when the time comes! Also keeping my fingers crossed in running into the PAL delegation...

kiretoce

April 16th, 2007, 07:47 AM

^^ Can't wait to view your photos and read-up on your trip report Joe! :okay: Have fun there in Hamburg! :colgate:

diz

April 16th, 2007, 09:10 AM

Long range? I wonder where they're going.

kiretoce

April 16th, 2007, 06:29 PM

Boeing continues to lead sales race; but Airbus output ahead as first quarter orders improve (http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2007/04/16/213277/boeing-continues-to-lead-sales-race.html)
By Max Kingsley-Jones

Boeing's sales performance continued where it left off last year, with the US airframer leading its European rival in first quarter orders. Airbus continues to lead on output, while the two companies' backlogs are effectively in equilibrium.

The two manufacturers took 307 net orders between them during the first three months - up 25% on the same period last year. This was largely thanks to a much better performance by Airbus, which secured 122 net orders against just 70 a year ago. Boeing's 185 orders was a slight increase on the 176 in the period last year.

http://www.flightglobal.com/assets/getAsset.aspx?ItemID=17251

Airbus's Q1 tally includes the first firm orders for the A330-200F - from Guggenheim Aviation Partners - while remarkably the seven orders from Finnair for the A340-300 means it outsold its big sister, the A340-500/600.

Meanwhile, the Boeing 767 production line - which was once threatened with closure - has received a major boost thanks to the United Parcel Service order for 27 aircraft, which has more than doubled its backlog to 61 from 28 at the end of last year.

The two airframers suffered 16 cancellations in Q1, the bulk of which resulted from UPS's decision to axe its order for 10 A380 Freighters. Boeing's four cancellations were the remaining orders for the 747-400 passenger model, which Philippine Airlines switched to a deal for two 777s.

This year's first quarter output increased 10% on last year to 221 units, with Airbus's 115 shipments keeping it top. Production of A320 Family aircraft is currently averaging roughly one aircraft a day.

The two manufacturers' backlog has nudged the 5,000-order mark, to 5,074, effectively split evenly between the two manufacturers - Airbus's lead is six units compared with 78 at the end of 2006.

kiretoce

April 16th, 2007, 06:32 PM

Airline to beef up pool of pilots (http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/man/2007/04/15/bus/airline.to.beef.up.pool.of.pilots.html)
Sunday, April 15, 2007

More than 100 pilots will be hired by flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) as the company starts its re-fleeting program.

PAL president Jaime Bautista said the pilots to be hired starting this year until 2012 will man the additional aircraft that will be delivered beginning this month.

He said from this year until 2008, the airline expects 20 more Airbus A320s and Airbus A319s.

"For this month and in May 3, we expect the arrival of four Airbus A319 aircraft," Bautista added.

Bautista said they decided to increase the pilots they trained from 15 last year to 40 this year to augment their forces.

At present PAL has 450 pilots and 1,300 cabin crew members.

On the other hand, Bautista said since they implemented a new strategy by raising the compensation being given to their pilots and so far none of them have decided to leave and transfer to other airlines, particularly foreign airlines, which have been luring many Filipinos pilots by offering high salaries and other incentives to the pilots and their families.

The Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) earlier declared the commercial pilot sector as "mission critical" because many pilots are transferring to foreign airlines because of higher salaries and benefits offered to them.

Crazy4Airplanes

April 17th, 2007, 12:48 AM

Skyblade

April 17th, 2007, 01:51 AM

^^ All aircraft except for a lone 733 are leased.

venntro

April 17th, 2007, 05:59 AM

High court clears way for prosecuting PIATCo head
INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines -- The Supreme Court has dismissed a petition of Henry Go, president of Philippine International Air Terminals Co. (PIATCo), to drop a criminal case against Go in connection with PIATCo’s contract to build and operate the still non-operational Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, known as NAIA-3.

The Supreme Court's Third Division, through Associate Justice Romeo Callejo, ruled that the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan did not commit grave abuse of discretion when it ruled that there existed probable cause to proceed with the prosecution of the case against Go.
Go and former secretary of transportation and communication Vicente Rivera Jr. were charged with violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for the overpriced construction of the NAIA-3.

The controversy stemmed from a complaint Maria Cecilia Pesayco, corporate secretary of Asia's Emerging Dragon Corporation (AEDC), the original proponent of NAIA-3 project, filed with the Office of the Ombudsman, accusing Go and several others of conspiring to defraud the government.

The Office of the Ombudsman found sufficient evidence to file the suit at the Sandiganbayan, saying Go and Rivera entered into a side agreement on the concession agreement that substantially deviated from the concession agreement on the NAIA-3 project.

The Office of the Ombudsman said the side agreement was grossly and disadvantageous to the government, as it contained a provision requiring the government to assume liabilities of PIATCo in the event that the bid and award of contract for the NAIA-3 project was declared void.

Go told the Sandiganbayan that he could not be charged under Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act because he is not a public officer and could enter into a contract on behalf of the government.

The anti-graft court dismissed his contention. The Supreme Court agreed, saying the anti-graft law's application extends to both public officers and private persons.

"The fact that one of the elements of Section (g) of the [Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act] is 'that the accused is a public officer' does not necessarily preclude its application to private persons, who, like petitioner Go, are being charged with conspiring with public officers in the commission of the offense thereunder," the Supreme Court said.

It added that it was no longer necessary to indicate in the complaint the specific acts of Go in allegedly conspiring with Rivera to violate the law because those are matters that can be proved during the trial.

"To establish conspiracy, direct proof of an agreement concerning the commission of a felony and the decision to commit is not necessary … Once established, all the conspirators are criminally liable as co-principals regardless of the degree of participation of each of them, for in contemplation of law, the act of one is the act of all," the high court said.

The Supreme Court added that the determination of probable cause during preliminary investigation is also within the ambit of the duties of the government prosecutor.

"Courts do not interfere in the Ombudsman's exercise of discretion in determining probable cause, unless there are compelling reasons. Mindful of this salutary rule, the Sandiganbayan nonetheless made its own determination on the basis of the records that were before it. It concluded that there was sufficient evidence in the records for the finding of existence of probable cause against petitioner [Go]," it added.

Solblanc

April 17th, 2007, 08:42 AM

Man....the seats of that B744 of PAL looks really old. it shows its age already. a refurbishment of the interiors is long overdue. i hope they start this asap and not wait for the B777s to arrive and then proceed with the upgrade in their cabins.

Btw, which planses of pal, are leased and which ones are owned? I noticed that the reg numbers of their planes are not the same. Do planes that begin with RP mean they are owned by PAL whereas those tho begin with EZ, N or F are leased?

The 744s should be refurbished by August. Ask Clarkent for details :)

As for which planes are owned and which planes are leased, as stated earlier, all planes are leased with the exception of a lone 733. However, the A320s that are coming should be owned, and the N-registered B744s afaik have a special arrangement in which after a set amount of years, they will be fully owned by PAL.

lightning099

April 17th, 2007, 09:36 AM

Our Cebu Pacific (A319) Flight (5J-xxx) from Manila to Tagbilaran

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/pd466bad521ffccefb01b8406e9bca946/e9e0a50d.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p98a20fc95b5e7767abc394513e5b4069/e9e0a420.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p24dc5a1585adaca674bd283874985534/e9e0a375.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/pb9e2f48951100b40a96ea75eae3226b8/e9e0a2a4.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p6a75e3bc3758a3af2e9c4f668ca65f78/e9e0a1bb.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p8ee5f9aeeb0d1499f7d0d4c00ecb563a/e9e0a604.jpg

pau_p1

April 17th, 2007, 02:23 PM

ganda talaga ng view sa Bohol pag landing.....

Skyblade

April 17th, 2007, 04:52 PM

Just came back from Aircraft Interiors Expo. I have loads of pics to share but I'll start off the stuff relevant to Philippine aviation first.

I heard that indeed the CL6510 (http://www.recaro-as.com/ras/product-range/full-flat/cl-6510/index.html) was indeed chosen by PR for the 744 retrofit. Other airlines that use or will later introduce this type include LH, QR, GJ (Eurofly), TP, AY, CA, EI (to be introduced), and KA. Of course, the seats of some of the said airlines, most especially LH, don't look like the original factory designed CL6510 but are customised to the airline's wishes.

The selection for the Y seat is the CL3510 (http://www.recaro-as.com/ras/product-range/economy-class/longrange/cl-3510/index.html).

Here's some pics I took of the two seat selections made by PAL:

CL3510:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v74/Skyblade04/Germany/Aircraft%20Interiors%20Expo/Germany4141.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v74/Skyblade04/Germany/Aircraft%20Interiors%20Expo/Germany4137.jpg

CL6510
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v74/Skyblade04/Germany/Aircraft%20Interiors%20Expo/Germany4129.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v74/Skyblade04/Germany/Aircraft%20Interiors%20Expo/Germany4147.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v74/Skyblade04/Germany/Aircraft%20Interiors%20Expo/Germany4148.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v74/Skyblade04/Germany/Aircraft%20Interiors%20Expo/Germany4130.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v74/Skyblade04/Germany/Aircraft%20Interiors%20Expo/Germany4133.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v74/Skyblade04/Germany/Aircraft%20Interiors%20Expo/Germany4149.jpg

I'm sure this one might look familiar: the CL4400 (http://www.recaro-as.com/ras/product-range/business-class/longrange/cl-4400/index.html) is the seat of choice for PAL's A319 C seat.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v74/Skyblade04/Germany/Aircraft%20Interiors%20Expo/Germany4122.jpg

From my experience, the lie-flat angle that the CL6510 was at was pretty comfortable and felt less problematic than the new NW World Business Class seat I've flown in a few times. However the angle can also be affected by what the customer wants (steeper angles=less pitch and more seats) when it gets customized so it may or may not be the same when PAL introduces it.

I have loads of pics of products from other companies (B/E Aerospace, Contour, Thales, etc.) and am willing to share more but I gotta head back to the convention.

Solblanc

April 17th, 2007, 06:39 PM

@lightning: great pics! 5J's aircraft always seem to be shiny

@Skyblade: aww, PR is going angled lie-flat? :( So wait... who was able to confirm which seats was gonna be on the retrofit, PAL people or Recaro people? btw, that expo is so cool!

Skyblade

April 17th, 2007, 07:14 PM

Indeed, lovely shots lightning! Pretty much got my first glimpse of TAG online! :D

Anyhow, it was two Recaro representatives that confirmed the PR's interest (wanted to reluctantly say "choice" but want to be safe w/ this statement) in the CL6510. I unfortunately didn't run into the PAL delegation in the first day but might have some luck before I head to the airport to board my EK flight to JFK. Seemed to have luck seeing UA, LO, and UL reps while I was wandering around the convention. I highly recommend attending AIE if you have an interest in getting the first-hand, up-to-date scoop on whats going on in the industry! There's also Aircraft Interiors Expo Asia (http://www.aircraftinteriors-expo.com/asia/) @ September 3-6 in Hong Kong if Hamburg might be a bit cost prohibitive. :D

kiretoce

April 17th, 2007, 10:45 PM

PAL upgrades operation to international standards in Zamboanga (http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/zam/2007/04/18/bus/pal.upgrades.operation.to.int.l.standards.in.zambo.html)
By Bong Garcia Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Philippine Airlines (PAL) has upgraded its operation to international standards with the introduction of Mabuhay (Business) Class Service deploying its latest single-isle Airbus A319 on the trunkline route between Manila and this city, the Western Mindanao capital.

An A319 plane carrying PAL President Jose Bautista and other top executives of the country's flag carrier touched down at the Zamboanga International Airport (ZIA) at 4:40 p.m. signaling the start of the company's new business class service to this city.

Top local officials led by Mayor Celso Lobregat and Vice Mayor Ma. Isabelle Climaco welcomed the PAL party. They were joined by local businessmen.

"What make this a historic occasion is that the A319 features a Mabuhay Class cabin. This means that, starting this day, PAL passengers to and from Zamboanga will experience consistent business-class service in air travel," Baustista said during the reception Monday evening.

"Only PAL offers this premium service in domestic market and we are delighted to make Zamboanga one of the first destinations to be served by our new-generation A319 and A320 models," he added.

He said that the A319 which was delivered to them late last year is part of a comprehensive fleet modernization program that will see the flag carrier acquiring up to 20 brand-new units of the A319 and its sister aircraft, the A320 over six years.

The A319 has eight seats in Mabuhay Class and 126 Fiesta (Economy) Class while the slightly larger A320 has 12 seats in Mabuhay Class and 144 Fiesta Class.

"All aircraft are outfitted with plush German-made Recaro seats. Seat pitch is a generous system, considered cutting-edge technology in the industry and capable of providing Audio/Video On-Demand (AVOD) to passengers," Bautista said.

He said the Mabuhay Class seats also featured personal television and con with seat-in power supply that enables passengers to operate laptop computers continuously during flight.

He said passengers in business class enjoy access to PAL's exclusive Mabuhay Lounge at Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport Centennial Terminal 2, and soon at ZIA, priority check-in and baggage handling at both airports and hot meals onboard.

He said the new jets replace the Boeing 737-300 which has been servicing the Zamboanga route since 1989.

Initially, only the morning flight from and to Manila will operate the A319.

In few months, the afternoon service will switch to the new planes, according to Bautista.

kiretoce

April 18th, 2007, 10:02 PM

Philippine Airlines purchases 4 new Airbuses, leases 3 others (http://news.monstersandcritics.com/business/news/article_1292972.php/Philippine_Airlines_purchases_4_new_Airbuses_leases_3_others)
April 18, 2007

Manila - The Philippines' flag carrier has purchased four new Airbus A320 aircraft as part of a refleeting programme for the year, the company president said Wednesday.

Philippine Airlines (PAL) was also leasing three A319 jets from Airbus, to be delivered from this month to November, according to Jaime Bautista, president and chief operating officer.

Two of the four A320s that PAL purchased were expected to be delivered before the end of April, while the rest would be delivered by May 3.

Bautista said PAL has allocated at least 250 million dollars for the purchase of the four A320s.

"These new aircraft will boost our domestic and regional operations," he said.

PAL has recently increased flight frequencies to such regional destinations as Beijing and Xiamen in China and Nagoya in Japan. It has also added flights to other international destinations.

kiretoce

April 18th, 2007, 10:15 PM

Etihad Airways logs RP as top Asia-Pacific market (http://www.mb.com.ph/TOUR2007041992072.html)
By Arlene D. Foz

One of the world’s youngest and most modern fleets, UAE flag carrier Etihad Airways logs OFWs as the biggest source of its ticket sales in the Philippines. Leisure and business travelers come next.

Etihad’s year-old base in the country attested to its high regard for the Philippines as one of its most dynamic markets in the Asia-Pacific region. About 250,000 Filipinos are based in the UAE region.

Twenty percent of Etihad’s Manila sales come from e-ticketing. The company aims to rapidly roll out e-ticketing across its international network. With 29 online destinations, the rest are expected to follow.

A signatory of major GDSs Amadeus and Abacus, Etihad flies to 38 destinations in the Middle East, Europe, North America, Africa and Asia. Recently commenced are flight services to Kuala Lumpur, Tehran and Sydney in Asia-Pacific and Dublin, Milan, Cochin and Trivandrum in Europe.

Etihad Airways flies non-stop (five hours) to and from Manila four times weekly every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.

On top of its direct flight between Manila and Abu Dhabi, the airline has onward connections available to more than 30 destinations across the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and the US.

With hospitality at the forefront of passenger offering, multi-awarded Etihad’s primary thrusts are hassle-free and easier travel via innovative in-flight products and services.

Etihad bagged several awards such as the World’s Leading New Airline in 2004, 2005, 2006. Last year, the company clinched the World’s Leading FlatBed Seat given by the World Travel Awards.

Voted as the Airline of the Year in the Middle East by the 2006 Pax International Magazine Readership Awards, Etihad was cited for its outstanding in-flight food and service.

Launched in 2003, Etihad Airways "hopes to be a catalyst for real change in the aviation industry."

kunoL8

April 19th, 2007, 05:36 AM

Recently commenced are flight services to Kuala Lumpur, Tehran and Sydney in Asia-Pacific and Dublin, Milan, Cochin and Trivandrum in Europe.

cochin and trivandrum are cities in india...errr, india's definitely not in europe. just wanted to point it out. what's up with pinoy reporters and wrong facts?

SKYLINEPIGEON

April 19th, 2007, 09:36 AM

i dont thinlk abu dhabi to manila flying time is only 5 hours, riyadh to manila takes 8 hrs and 30 minutes coming back is more than 09 hrs

stephencua

April 20th, 2007, 05:03 AM

got this from an email from a friend..

Manila's CAB Reduces Tiger Airways' Permit

April 19 (Aviation Daily) - The Civil Aeronautics Board in Manila has halved Singapore-based, low-fare airline Tiger Airways' current six-monthly operating permit to Clark's Disdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA).

Known as the Foreign Air Carrier's Permit (FACP), it was initially supposed to end in September but will now expire in June before Tiger receives a renewable six-month FACP. No reasons were given by CAB.

An official with CAB was willing to say only that it was the agency's prerogative to issue short-term FACPs

Tiger Airways in Singapore declined comment for fear of offending CAB. CAB's move would seriously threaten to jeopardize the viability of the continued operations and growth of low-fare airlines at Clark. It would also thwart the Philippines government's plan to develop the airport into a low-fare airlines' hub in Southeast Asia.

Previously known as the Clark Air Field, DMIA was the military base for the U.S. in the region. The Filipino government invested US$20 million five years ago to upgrade the facility and convert it into a civilian airport.

The airport is currently used by Malaysia's Air Asia, which operates daily nonstop flights from Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu, Asiana Airlines, Hong Kong Express Airlines and Philippines' carriers Cebu Pacific and Southeast Asian Airlines.

Last year, DMIA handled 471,000 passengers and 128,747 tons cargo, up 110% and 15% respectively over the previous year. Departure tax revenue increased 126% to 35.9 million pesos (US$74,791)

Executive VP and chief operating officer of Clark International Airport Corp. Alexander Cauguiran said DMIA is fast-growing and is forecast to see a 100% increase in passenger volume and 20% jump in cargo handling this year.

bustero

April 20th, 2007, 06:46 AM

^^Well I guess we know who's side CAB is on.

kiretoce

April 20th, 2007, 04:16 PM

Hong Kong-Clark daily flights for roundtrip fare starts (http://biz.balita.ph/html/article.php?story=20070420102442500)
Friday, April 20 2007

Hong Kong Airlines started Thursday its daily flights between the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) here and Hong Kong for roundtrip fare.

Officials of Hong Kong Airlines Limited led by its managing director Li Qiang said its operations at Clark immensely improved just within four months after they initiated their first flight last Dec. 10.

Li said shuttle services between DMIA and Manila will be made available to travelers for free in order to ease traveling via Clark Freeport.

The influential Angeles-based cause-oriented group Pinoy Gumising Ka Movement (PGKM) headed by wood furniture manufacturer-exporter Pert Cruz also welcomed the start of the Clark-Hong Kong daily air service, saying that it would make the full operation of DMIA and convert Clark Freeport as the country's main gateway.

Li added that the airline also grants additional 10 kilos to the regular 20-kilo baggage allocation for the inbound and outbound flights which is 50 percent more than other airlines.

The airline's Hong Kong-Clark-Hong Kong flights became popular among Filipino travelers visiting the tourist attractions of Hong Kong. There is also a surge of Chinese tourists in Clark Freeport zone and Angeles City.

Clark International Airport Corp. (ICIAC) president and chief executive officer Victor Jose I. Luciano considered the increase in flights of Hong Kong Airlines at DMIA as an economic booster.

He said the increase in tourist arrivals could generate more jobs.

"You came at the right time. Let me assure you that we will give our full support for the success of Hong Kong Airlines," Luciano earlier told Hong Kong Airlines officials during their inaugural flight.

Luciano said Hong Kong and the Philippines share "a long historical and cultural link", noting that "successful businessmen here are from Chinese ancestry."

He noted that there are around 20 million people in Central and Northern Luzon who now have an "easy and affordable gateway at Clark to visit Hong Kong."

Luciano said the regular Hong Kong flights at DMIA boosts the country's prospects of benefiting from the growing number of Chinese tourists estimated at around 40 million travelers a year.

He announced that the aggressive expansion efforts of Hong Kong Airlines in the Philippines, adding that it would be the first international airline that will do multipoint destinations in the Philippines as part of its expansion program.

With its initial route of Hong Kong-Clark and other routes in the pipeline are flights between Hong Kong and Kalibo, Legaspi, Bohol, Davao, Palawan, Cebu and Manila.

Li said this dual approach to tourism is consistent with the present efforts of the government to bring in tourists from mainland China via Hong Kong with direct destinations to the provinces where most of tourist attractions are gloriously showcased.

Hong Kong Airlines also flies to Thailand, Vietnam, Korea, Japan, Cambodia, Singapore and Myanmar.

It also flies to 10 key cities in mainland China from HK landing in the cities of Guilin, Changsa, Qingdao, Nanning, Kunming, Haikou, Sanya, Tianjin, Xiamen and Fuzhou.

Hong Kong Airlines, which has a fleet of Boeing 737-800s, is in the process of rapid growth and has standing orders for the Boeing 777ERs and 787 Dreamlines as it seeks to expand globally as Hong Kong's second flag carrier.