The Philippines and Malaysia sealed a new deal that effectively doubled capacity between their respective primary gateways, a government official said last week.
Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) executive director Carmelo Arcilla said the air talks with Malaysia last week yielded an increase in capacity from 4,820 seats a week to 9,640 seats a week between Manila and Kuala Lumpur. Moreover, the agreement expanded capacity between all points in Malaysia to all points in the Philippines, except Manila, from 2,000 to unlimited seats a week, he said.
The new air deal replaced a 2011 agreement with Malaysia, Arcilla said.
It also comes after several delays this year. Talks originally set last 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 new agreement will allow our airlines to expand on the routes between the Philippines and Malaysia, especially now that the market continues to grow and our airlines have been fully utilizing their entitlements,” Arcilla said.
“In fact Air Asia Zest has been operating beyond the limit and is utilizing temporary rights,” he added, referring to the unit of Malaysian budget carrier giant AirAsia Bhd.
The talks come just after the Philippines and Hong Kong sealed on Wednesday last week a new air deal doubling weekly flights to and from Manila, replacing a 2008 agreement.
That deal increased weekly seat capacity for the Manila-to-Hong Kong route to 30,000 seats from the previous 15,000 seats.
Moreover, both parties agreed to unlimited flights from Hong Kong to all international airports in the Philippines outside Manila. This was important for hubs like Clark International Airport in Pampanga province, which was only allowed 4,300 seats a week under the old air deal.
The CAB also held this year successful air negotiators with Ethiopia, South Africa, New Zealand, Singapore, France, Canada, Myanmar and Macau. The discussions were mainly aimed at expanding earlier agreements, partly due to the rise of aggressive budget carriers currently fueling demand for travel.