Cebu Pacific May Soon Fly To Europe

[Fred & Mimi]

MANILA, Philippines - Gokongwei-led Cebu Pacific may soon mount flights to Europe.

 

This as the European Union is set to announce the lifting the ban on Cebu Pacific on Thursday afternoon.

 

Thursday's press conference will be attended by EU Chargè d’ Affaires Dr. Julian Vassallo, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) director general Lt. Gen. William Hotchkiss III, CAAP deputy director general Capt. John Andrews and Cebu Pacific president Lance Gokongwei.

 

In January, Cebu Pacific informed the EU's Directorate General for Mobility and Transport in Brussels that it has already complied with the outstanding aviation safety concerns.

 

The European Commission in March 2010 had imposed a ban on Philippine carriers from entering the European airspace, as the CAAP failed to reform the Philippines' civil aviation system as mandated by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

 

Last year, Cebu Pacific was excluded when the EU cleared the Philippines after a three-year ban. This was right after a Cebu Pacific plane skidded off the Davao runway, shutting the airport for three days.

 

That gave Philippine Airlines a head start, as PAL started flights to London in November. PAL is planning to mount flights to Paris and Rome as early as this year.

 

 

Both airlines are waiting for the Philippines to be cleared by the US, which barred new flights from the Philippines in 2008. US clearance would allow PAL to add to its flights and Cebu Pacific can start flights. - With ANC

 

LINK

[Markham]

The ban may be lifted tomorrow but it doesn't follow that Cebu Pacific will be flying there any time soon and not only because it doesn't have any suitable aircraft: its lone A330 is employed on daily shuttles to the Gulf and doesn't have the range in any event. But it would enable the airline to seek routes, which it may have to operate on a reciprocal basis, and I do kind of expect it to use the RyanAir flight-planning manual to identify its destinations - the cheapest airport within 200 kms of the destination city.

 

Cebu Pacific will almost encounter the same routing restrictions as currently apply to PAL's London service. For the first couple of weeks, PAL used the considerably shorter southern China airway but following a series of spats between the countries, China withdrew navigation clearances and those PAL flights are forced to use the longer route via Thailand and northern India to the "Stans", a flying time of 15+ hours between London and Manila.

[Markham]

The ban has been lifted ... and the FAA has restored Category 1 status to the Philippines which means that Cebu Pacific can bid for routes and PAL can expand on its north American routes.

Edited April 10, 2014 by Markham

[Daydreamer]

Both airlines are waiting for the Philippines to be cleared by the US, which barred new flights from the Philippines in 2008. US clearance would allow PAL to add to its flights and Cebu Pacific can start flights. - With ANC

Read online (yahoo.com so might want to check other sites)that the Philippines airlines was being upgraded to status 1 because their safety record improved over the last three years. But like I said, I'd check other sources other than yahoo.com for some validity to that statement. :morning1: :thumbsup:

DARNIT!!!! Somebody already beat me with this news, oh well now everyone knows. That's a good thing :999: :cheers:

Edited April 15, 2014 by Daydreamer

[Thomas]

DARNIT!!!! Somebody already beat me with this news

Don't be sad. I gave you a "Like" too   :)