MANILA, Philippines - Philippine Airlines will soon be able to mount flights to New York once the United States Federal Aviation Administration lifts its ban on additional flights from the Philippines.
The ban comes after the US FAA downgraded the country's standing as a member of the International Civil Aviation Organization, placing the Philippines in Category 2 or unsafe status.
After a five-day audit early this year, ICAO found out that the country managed to address and resolved its safety concerns, seen to bring the Philippines back to Category 1 status.
"With the lifting of the US FAA sanction, we can go to New York already," PAL President and Chief Operating Officer Ramon Ang said.
PAL currently flies to Honolulu, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
Ang said that according to a meeting of civil aviation authorities in Brussels, Belgium, the 27-nation European Union, which also imposed a similar sanction, is likely to lift its own three-year ban on Philippine air carriers "within the year."