CAB: PH carriers banned from expanding flights to S. Korea

Local airlines have been banned from expanding operations in South Korea, according to the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB).

Seoul reportedly took its cue from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which imposed a similar ban on the Philippines due to the country’s out-of-date safety regulations.

Civil Aeronautics Board executive director Carmelo Arcilla said the South Korean government last month junked an application by AirPhil Express to launch flights to Incheon, gateway to the Seoul capital.

Arcilla on Tuesday explained that the South Korean government cited the Philippines’ “Category 2 status with the FAA” as the basis for the decision.

Under South Korean rules, airlines from countries like the Philippines, which are rated category 2 by the FAA, are banned from expanding flights to and from the country.

The ban also covers countries blacklisted by the European Union (EU) and those that have been cited with “serious safety concerns” by the International Civil Aviation Organizations (ICAO).

Incidentally, the Philippines is also blacklisted by the EU and the ICAO.

But existing flights will not be affected, even after the FAA ban. Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific, the country’s two top carriers, have flights to South Korea.

Arcilla said the CAB had scheduled a meeting in the first week of February with its counterparts in South Korea to renegotiate the matter.