Singapore, Philippines Sign New Air Deal

[DScott]

This might be a good thing for the Philippines,in my opinion the more flights and destinations can only help the economy.DonSingapore, Philippines sign new air deal THE GOVERNMENT HAS SIGNED a new deal that will increase the number of flights between the Philippines and Singapore, providing a boost to trade and tourism in both countries. In an interview, Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) Executive Director Carmelo Arcilla said members of the Philippine air panel, along with their Singaporean counterparts, signed the deal that would increase the number of flights between the two countries by over 60 percent. Negotiations were concluded earlier this week. The new deal adds 2,647 seats a week between Manila and Singapore, on top of the previous 11,200 seats per week allowed. Allocations to Clark, meanwhile, were doubled to 20,000 seats a week from 10,000 before. Arcilla said the preference of adding more seats to Clark than any other point in the country is still part of the government’s plan to replace Manila’s aging airport system with that of the former military air base in Pampanga, turning it into the country’s premiere international gateway. For points outside of Manila and Clark, allocations were also doubled to 10,000 seats a week. Today, only the Cebu and Davao airports have flights to Singapore. “There’s steady growth on routes from the Philippines to Singapore,” according to Arcilla, who heads the Philippine air panel. “It’s between seven and 10 percent every year.” There have been a growing number of airlines serving the route from other points in the Philippines, Arcilla noted. For instance, Gokongwei-owned budget airline Cebu Pacific flies to Singapore from Cebu City and Clark Freeport. Singapore-based airline Tiger Airways also flies to Clark. Another Singaporean airline , Silk Air, also flies to Davao City. The new agreement with Singapore, along with deals made with other countries, is part of the administration’s strategy to increase tourist arrivals to the country to boost economic activity. Since the start of the year, the Philippine air panel—made up of representatives from the departments of transportation and communications, trade and industry and tourism—has signed similar air deals with Qator and South Korea.

[jeff bradshaw]

I would also be interested if they removed the need for my Filipino wife to have a return/onward flight. I didn't know this as we recently went to Singapore...we were going through to Malaysia overland and then India, but before they let her on the plane in Manila I had to go and buy a wasted flight back to the Philippines. I kicked and moaned but they insisted. Ended up losing about 75GBP just to get her on the plane! And to top it off, I tried to cancel the wasted flight the following day, to be told that it would cost 2,500 pesos to cancel and they would put the balance in a fund that I could use within the next 3 months, for a flight within the next year. That flight could only be booked through a Cebupacific agent or direct with the Manila office. There is more detail, but it isn't worth going into here. Needless to say, that I won't be going to Singapore again with Cebupacific whilst that condition applies. I often travel with no fixed return date and so these conditions are impossible to meet with a budget flight.Any advice on this would be welcome.Jeff