Plan to give foreign airlines unlimited flights to Subic, Clark hit

The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) will advise Malacañang anew against adopting a reported proposal to give all foreign airlines unlimited access to the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) in Clark, Pampanga, and the Subic International Airport (SIA) in Olongapo.

Porvenir Porciuncula, CAB officer-in-charge and chief of its economic planning and research division, told The Star that the plan raised serious concerns on passenger and flight safety and also puts the local aviation industry in a disadvantageous position.

"We will reiterate earlier concerns we have raised about giving foreign airlines unrestricted access to the two airports," Porciuncula said.

Porciuncula explained that CAB had already expressed its deep reservations about such a move way back in February of this year when Malacanang issued EO 500 that gave foreign carriers, even those that were non-designated international airlines in their respective countries, blanket access to enter and mount regular flights to Clark and Subic.

In expressing concern over the proposal, CAB cited the problems that will arise if accidents or some untoward incident will hit such flights mounted by non-designated carriers wherein passengers will have difficulties in going after an erring carrier.

Porciuncula added that a lack of reciprocal privileges for local airlines in the airports of other countries also rendered the arrangement as unfair to Filipino commercial carriers and detrimental to the whole aviation industry.

"Apparently, there would be a lack of reciprocity in the arrangement that will be unfair to local airlines," he said.

Due to CAB’s presentation of this position, Malacañang subsequently issued an amending executive order, EO 500A which again put restrictions on the access of foreign carriers into the two airports saying such would have to first get CAB approval.

However, it was learned that the proposal was again being resurrected with the draft of a new EO 500B that was similar to the original EO 500.

"Basically, EO 500 and the draft EO 500B are the same," Porciuncula admitted.

Executives of the different local airlines such as Asian Spirit, Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines had earlier expressed concern over the proposal citing the lack of reciprocity of such an arrangement.