Palace welcomes news on more Phl flights to Europe

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang expressed elation yesterday at the European Union’s impending removal of all Philippine-based carriers from the list of banned airlines.

The EU is expected to officially announce the decision in its next round of assessment of aviation performance in April.

“That’s a very good development…Hopefully…that includes everyone, at least we can look forward to more Philippine carriers flying to various destinations in Europe,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said over dzRB.

“Hopefully, more flights to more destinations and better fares,” she added.

Valte said the development is expected to boost tourism as European nationals would be enticed to visit the Philippines.

He said overseas Filipino workers in Europe could also come home more often because of the direct flights.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) announced Friday that representatives of the European Commission (EC) would visit the Philippines next month to assess the oversight capabilities of CAAP and the operations of other local airlines still on the list.

CAAP assistant director general Beda Badiola said they went to Brussels last week for a technical meeting and the results were very positive. “So, sometime in April 14 to 24, they are going to send an assessment team to look into the operations of these operators,” he said.