The Philippines and Qatar have amended their bilateral air service agreement to increase flight entitlements for each country by 75 percent.
Civil Aeronautics Board executive director Carmelo Arcilla said Manila and Doha signed on May 28 a new memorandum of understanding on air services, increasing the maximum number of flights for each country from the current eight flights per week to 14 flights a week.
The air talks were held in Doha on May 27 to 28. The last air talks between the two countries were held in 2009.
Arcilla said the parties had agreed on unlimited flights between Doha and other airports in the Philippines, except Manila.
The entitlements outside Manila were previously 14 per week to Clark and 14 per week to Cebu.
Qatar Airways currently flies eight times a week to Manila and seven times a week to Clark.
Cebu Pacific is set to start operation between Manila and Doha on June 5, 2015. There are about 250,000 Filipinos working in Qatar.
The Philippine air panel also completed ASA with Singapore, Oman and Australia this year.
The Philippine air services negotiating panel is composed of officials from the CAB, Tourism, Transportation and Foreign Affairs Departments, as well as from the Clark International Airport Corp. and representatives of local airline companies.
The Philippine air panel held talks with the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Singapore and South Korea last week.
The Aquino administration is pursuing air talks as part of its open skies policy. The government aims to generate 10 million tourists by 2016.