Gov’t panel asked to seek open skies deal with Japan

Cebu Pacific Air is urging the government to push for an open skies agreement with Japan, which would allow the country’s biggest budget carrier to “expand rapidly” its operations in the North Asia country, the company said in a statement.

Cebu Pacific said it had submitted a position paper to the Philippine Air Consultation Panel on August 15. The country, through this panel, is set to hold air talks with Japan from September 11 to 13.

Japan, described as one of the most protective aviation sectors worldwide, has open skies agreements with Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Australia, France, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom, United States, Canada and Mexico.

Cebu Pacific noted that should capacity at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila increase, Philippine carriers would not be able to mount flights because of the lack of seat entitlements.

“Seat entitlements have to be given first by countries such as Japan, so airlines like Cebu Pacific can increase flights or add destinations internationally,” the airline said.

“An Open Skies agreement will speed up this process and allow Cebu Pacific to immediately expand its Japan operations. Cebu Pacific currently operates from Manila to Osaka thrice a week,” it added.

The statement noted the compounded decrease of  2 percent in Japan foreign arrival statistics from 2006-2011, which was attributed to the lack of additional seat entitlements. In the meantime, tourist arrivals from Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) grew by double-digit rates during the period.

“Cebu Pacific plans to aggressively expand its service to Japan in the future. We fully support the CAB (Civil Aeronautics Board) in its efforts to further boost tourism and the Philippine aviation industry,” said vice president for marketing and distribution Candice Iyog.

“Aside from Japan being one of the Philippines’ biggest trading partners, it is also home to 350,000 global Filipinos. Miguel R. Camus