EU lifts ban on Cebu Pacific

MANILA, Philippines - Gokongwei-owned Cebu Air Inc. (Cebu Pacific) is set to become the second Philippine airline to enter the European airspace after the European Union partially lifted a ban and allowed flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) to fly to London last year.

Julian Vassallo, EU chargè d’ affaires, is scheduled to make the announcement tomorrow at the office of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).

CAAP director general Lt. Gen. William Hotchkiss III and CAAP deputy director general Capt. John Andrews are expected to preside over the press conference.

Cebu Pacific president Lance Gokongwei is also expected to join the event.

Last Jan. 28, Cebu Pacific informed the directorate general for Mobility and Transport (DGMOVE) of the EU in Brussels that the low cost carrier has already complied with all the outstanding aviation safety concerns just like national flag carrier Philippine Airlines Inc. (PAL).

This was followed by the Air Safety Committee meeting of the EU last March 26.

Jorenz Tanada, vice president for corporate affairs of Cebu Pacific, said the low cost carrier has not been officially informed about the results of the evaluation by the EU.

“We have not official information yet. We remain hopefully optimistic,” Tanada said.

It would be recalled that Gokongwei earlier announced that the budget airline would seek the green light from the EU to enter the European airspace last November.

However, the plan was deferred after Super Typhoon Yolanda battered several provinces in the Visayas region last Nov. 8.

Gokongwei believes that Cebu Pacific operates a safe airline despite the incident involving two of its aircraft in the Davao International Airport and the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) last June.

The 27-member European Commission imposed a ban in March 2010 preventing Philippine carriers from entering the European airspace after CAAP failed to reform the country’s civil aviation system as mandated by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

However, Philippines got a positive impression at the EU’s Air Safety Committee (ASC) in Belgium in June last year especially after ICAO lifted the remaining significant security concerns after Philippines through the CAAP passed the audit conducted in February.

This paved the way for the partial lifting of the ban in July last year allowing PAL – jointly owned by tycoon Lucio Tan and diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) - to mount direct flights to London last November.

In 2008, the safety rating of the Philippines was downgraded by the US FAA upon the recommendation of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to Category 2 from Category 1after CAAP failed to comply with safety standards for the oversight of air carrier operations.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (US-FAA) has yet to release the results of the validation audit conducted March 26 by a team headed by division manager for Flights Standards Service John Barbagallo.

Category 2 indicates that the FAA had assessed that the Philippines’ civil aviation authority had failed to comply with ICAO safety standards for the oversight of air carrier operations. While in Category 2, Philippine air carriers are permitted to continue current operations to the US under heightened FAA surveillance.

Several teams from US-FAA have been visiting the Philippines over the last five months as part of the evaluation process of the country’s aviation safety standards.