PH set to hold air rights talks with Malaysia on Oct. 28-29

The Philippines is scheduled to hold air talks with Malaysia late this month with the aim of increasing flights between the two countries, a government official said last week.

Jesus Ibay Jr., Civil Aeronautics Board chief for economic planning and research, said in a text message that talks with Malaysia had been set for Oct. 28 to 29 in Manila. These discussions would follow air talks with Hong Kong on Oct. 14 to 15.

Earlier talks with Malaysia, set on August, were postponed in the wake of the crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine in July. The aircraft was reportedly shot down by a surface-to-air missile, causing the death of all 298 people onboard.

The planned air discussions are aimed at expanding earlier agreements, partly due to the rise of aggressive budget carriers currently fueling demand for travel.

Ibay noted that no schedule has been set for November to December of 2014, however, the CAB had said it was planning to hold talks with Taiwan, Indonesia and possibly Australia.

Air deal negotiations with Hong Kong and Malaysia would be the ninth and tenth air talks, respectively, for the year.

Before this, the Philippines sealed new air deals with the governments of Ethiopia, South Africa, New Zealand, Singapore, France, Canada, Burma (Myanmar), and Macau so far in 2014.

Talks with Ethiopia, in particular, were concluded just last week.

Even then, Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific Air said they were not yet keen on flying to Ethiopia even as CAB executive director Carmelo Arcilla said flag carrier Ethiopian Airlines was keen on starting to operate here as soon as possible.

The maiden air deal between the two countries paves the way for seven flights per week between Manila and Ethiopia, Arcilla said.

Moreover, the agreement allows unlimited flights between Ethiopia and other airports in the Philippines outside of Manila, he said. To boost connectivity, intermediate stops were allowed in Singapore, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh, India and the Middle East, based on the air deal.