Government saves P46 million in airfare through discounted tickets

MANILA, Philippines — The government saved P46 million through the procurement of discounted airline tickets from major players led by national flag carrier Philippine Airlines of taipan Lucio Tan, Gokongwei-led Cebu Pacific, and AirAsia Philippines.

The Procurement Service reported that the savings were generated as of end July as the airline tickets purchased by state agencies enrolled under the Government Fares Agreement (GFA) offer a discount of eight to nine percent of the regular prices of participating carriers.

“This amount does not include unquantified savings from additional benefits which enrolled agencies enjoy under the program such as free first rebooking fee, waived processing fee for domestic and international tickets and additional weight allowances. Agencies also enjoy airport lounge privileges under the program,” the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said in a statement.

The program is an initiative of the DBM and the PS-Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PS-PhilGEPS) to ensure savings in the procurement of the air transportation needs of all government employees for their official trips.

PAL and Cebu Pacific partnered with PS-PhilGEPS in 2016 and with AirAsia Philippines last May 2.

Government agencies registered in the GFA enjoy discounted prices from PAL, Cebu Pacific and AirAsia for the purchase of domestic and international air tickets.

Total availment of agencies to the GFA program of PS-DBM amounted to P480.1 million as of end July.

To date, a total of 160 government agencies enjoy the benefits of the GFA by utilizing the PS-PhilGEPS Travel Portal.

Recently, in partnership with the Department of Education (DepEd), the Philippine contingent with 215 participants for the 10th ASEAN School Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia was booked through GFA.

In addition, the Philippine Sports Commission and the national athletes for the Jakarta Palembang 2018 Asian Games took advantage of the GFA discounts.