NEWSFLASH

Manila, Aug. 8, 2000 - Singapore wants an increase in its weekly passenger capacity entitlement under a new air service agreement with the Philippines. It has dropped its demand for unlimited flights to Manila.

At present, Singapore Airlines is allowed to fly in and out of Manila 6,545 passengers a week.

Acting Foreign Secretary Franklin Ebdalin, chair of the Philippine air panel, said the Philippines is open to the idea of expanding its air services arrangement with the Asian city state but that the latter has to prove first a hike in tourist demand.

He, however, noted that Singapore could hardly fill up its allowed weekly capacity on account of a slack in tourism in the Asia-Pacific region and in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in which both the Philippines and Singapore belonged.

Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) data show that in June this year, for instance, the number of weekly passengers carried by Singapore Airlines only averaged 5,588 or 957 short of its allowed weekly capacity of 6,545.

In 1999, Singapore Airlines’ weekly traffic averaged 4,259, excluding 5th freedom traffic rights, the same CAB data show.

Ebdalin said the tourism market conditions remain soft, but “if Singapore can prove otherwise, then we can negotiate but not for an open skies pact, which their air panel demanded last year and caused for the talks to bog down.”

The same CAB data indicate that the number of tourist arrivals in the Asia-Pacific region has hardly improved since the financial crisis of 1997. Of the estimated available 48,821 seats week, an average of only 26,531are actually filled. In the ASEAN region, out of the 20,162 allowed seating capacity, only 14,074 are used.

Singapore Ambassador to Manila Jacky Foo had earlier said his government “can settle for any number expanding the existing (traffic)” acceptable to the Philippines.

“My main objective here is to bring more Filipinos to Singapore and bring more Singaporeans to the Philippines. We are such good neighbors you know, we have so many things in each other’s culture that we can share to each other. So when there are more flights and more planes flying between these two countries, competition will lower the fare and many Filipinos can afford to go to Singapore,” Foo said in an earlier interview.

Manila and Singapore reviewed their air service agreement last year but the talks hit a snag when Singapore demanded unlimited seating capacity and number of flights from its present 5,600 entitlement.