The Philippine air panel plans to hold air talks with the United States and nine other countries to increase flight frequencies and expand tourism opportunities, according to the Department of Transportation (DOTr).
“To improve international connectivity in the post-pandemic era, the Civil Aeronautics Board or CAB is planning to conduct air consultation talks with various governments, such as – the United States, Australia, Thailand, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Ethiopia, India, Oman and Seychelles,” DOTr Secretary Jaime Bautista said.
He said air talks usually portend of expanded air services to new destinations. “Through these air talks, we intend to open new international routes or add more flight frequencies on existing routes to provide travelers flexibility in going to more international destinations while attracting drones of foreign tourists to explore the country,” he said.
Bautista said the last time the Philippines had air talks with the US was more than 20 years ago. “And of course, we want to expand our operations,” Bautista said. “Right now, we only operate to San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York.”
The Philippine air services negotiating panel is composed of officials from the CAB, Department of Tourism, Departments of Transportation and of Foreign Affairs as well as Clark International Airport Corp. and representatives of local airlines.
