The Philippine Government is acting on liberalisation pledges and has backed agreements to allow two domestic carriers to enter the international market in competition with Philippine Airlines (PAL).
On 25 August Philippine president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo oversaw the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Singapore to liberalise air services arrangements. The memorandum covers increased passenger capacity, greater route flexibility and more freedom to shift capacity between routes.
It also allows more carriers to operate between the two countries. Cebu Pacific Air, the Philippines' recently designated second national carrier, is aiming to take advantage of the more liberal regime by launching Boeing 757-200 services between Manila and Singapore in October. The carrier is planning to lease two of the type from Pegasus Aviation and has already signed a letter of intent.
Arroyo has also laid the groundwork for Air Philippines to launch services to Brunei using Boeing 737-300s, which the airline agreed to lease earlier this year. A day before her visit to Singapore, Arroyo oversaw the signing of an agreement in Brunei between Air Philippines and Brunei-based Zura Travel Services to enable thrice-weekly charter services to the Sultanate from October.
Brunei will be the first international destination for Air Philippines, which is controlled by Lucio Tan, chairman and majority owner of PAL, although it is independent from the national carrier.
Liberalisation follows a change in government which saw Arroyo taking over from Joseph Estrada, who was ousted over corruption charges. Estrada's administration was viewed as having a protectionist policy which favoured PAL.
Source: Flight International
