RP, US to hold air talks next month

The United States has agreed to hold air talks with the Philippines, which hopes to defer the open-skies agreement it signed with Washington in 1995, a Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) official said yesterday.

In an interview, DFA Undersecretary Franklin Ebdalin said the talks will be held in Washington, DC on Feb. 19 and 20. However, he said the Philippine panel, of which he is a member, will request that the venue for the talks be moved to Honolulu, Hawaii. The Philippine panel wants to avoid winter in the US capital.

Ebdalin said the last air talks with the US were held in 1995, when the Philippines signed a protocol that amended and supplemented the air service agreement it signed with the US in 1992.

He said the Philippines is not yet ready for an open-skies policy for passenger flights with the US and, thus, the country’s air panel will try to convince the US side to defer its implementation for another five years.

If the open-skies agreement is not postponed, the agreement takes effect in October.

The DFA official said the country’s airlines may not be able to compete with US carriers once the open-skies agreement policy is implemented.

The country doesn’t have the infrastructure needed for the unlimited flights of foreign carriers and there is still no demand for unlimited flights to the US at present, he added.

He said the country is amenable only to open skies for cargo flights.

Ebdalin added that they have received feedback that the US side will give in to the Philippines’ request for the deferment of the agreement on passenger flights as long as the cargo flights for US carriers will be increased.

Under the air pact between the Philippines and the US, three US carriers are designated to operate cargo services: Continental Micronesia, Northwest and United Airlines.

The three US carriers are currently limited to a total of 36 weekly frequencies until Sept. 30 this year. This was increased from 31 weekly frequencies divided among the three US airlines between 1997 and 1999.

It was during the term of former President Fidel Ramos that the open-skies policy was adopted. However, recent economic difficulties forced the Philippines to renegotiate the air agreements with different countries to protect the local airline industry.

Other US cargo services provided by Federal Express, DHL and others have been allowed by government to operate so the Philippines should try to get a good compromise with the US to avoid being on the losing end of the agreement, Ebdalin said.