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Philippine Airlines seeks more flights to Taiwan

MANILA: Philippine Airlines said on Sunday it has asked Taiwan to allow it to increase flights to Taipei and to operate services to Kaoshiung.

This would allow PAL to use its full entitlement of 4,800 seats weekly on flights between the two sides under an interim air deal reached in January, PAL said in a statement.

The airline said it filed a petition on Friday with Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration, invoking the principle of reciprocity.

Under the interim accord, Taiwan's China Airlines and EVA Airways are entitled to a combined 4,800 seats in their weekly flights between Manila and Taipei.

The two Taiwan airlines currently operate a total 17 passenger flights weekly on the Manila-Taipei route, the local civil aeronautics board said. It said PAL was also entitled to a similar seat quota of 4,800 a week but that Taiwan had restricted PAL's flights to Taipei to four times weekly.

As a result, PAL is able to use only 1,200 seats of its weekly allocation, a PAL spokesman said.

The airline said the new schedule proposed to Taiwan would include eight flights a week to Taipei and five flights weekly to Kaoshiung in southern Taiwan. This would boost its total capacity to 4,708 seats weekly, still within the limit.

"The principle of reciprocity, which is enshrined in international law, demands that the Philippines be given the fair opportunity to offer an equal number of seats on the route," PAL said.

The Philippines scrapped its air services agreement with Taiwan in September in a dispute over passenger loads and onward routing, causing a four-month suspension of direct air links.

The dispute arose from Manila's complaints that many passengers flying from Manila to Taipei on Taiwan's airlines are being flown onward to the United States and other destinations, taking business away from PAL.

Direct flights resumed last month after both sides agreed on a compromise passenger load of 4,800, down from the previous weekly passenger limit of 9,600.

Both sides agreed to negotiate a new full-fledged accord after restoration of direct flights.

PAL owes creditors $2.2 billion and is in its first year of a debt restructuring agreement.-Reuters