Marcos, Belgian execs work on Manila-Brussels direct flights

BRUSSELS – President Marcos and Belgian airport officials have agreed to work on mounting direct flights between Manila and Brussels in a move that seeks to take advantage of the higher demand for air travel due to relaxed mobility restrictions.

Press Undersecretary Cheloy Garafil said the proposal to open the Manila-Brussels direct flight came from the airport officials during a meeting with Marcos on the sidelines of the commemorative summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and European Union last Tuesday here.

Garafil said the airport officials “showed great interest in gaining a foothold in the Philippines.”

A Palace statement quoted Brussels Airport Co. chief executive officer Arnaud Feist as saying that the direct flight is a “win-win” scenario for both countries.

“We are working on the opportunity to have a direct flight between Manila and Brussels... And we think that basically there is a win-win for both countries to be connected directly,” Feist said.

Opening a nonstop flight to Brussels will provide Filipinos an opportunity to explore Belgium and the rest of western Europe, according to Marcos.

“When we talk about Brussels on our mind, it’s really Western Europe because, very clearly, Brussels is very much at the center of that. And so that is something of great interest,” he said.

“The pent-up demand over the pandemic is now beginning to show itself, and the demand for air travel has actually increased a great deal more quickly than I had expected,” he added.

Once the direct flight becomes available, Europeans visiting Asia may use Manila as an entry point to other neighboring Southeast Asian countries while Filipinos traveling to Europe may fly directly to Belgium to access other destinations in Western Europe.

The President noted that all Southeast Asian capitals are within a few hours from Manila.

“That’s something that we would like to take advantage of and exploit in terms of making the areas more accessible... I think there’s a great deal of opportunity. It will be advantageous for the both of us,” he said.

The Palace statement quoted Philippine Airlines (PAL) officials as saying that they are “really interested” in connecting Filipinos to Belgium and in carrying more European tourists to the Philippines.

“That’s really the vision that we are excited to see. We want to improve the economic activities in the Philippines and also here,” PAL president and chief operating officer Stanley Ng was quoted as saying.

Speaker Martin Romualdez, Sen. Mark Villar, officials from the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Transportation and PAL were present during the meeting.