RP allows Cathay to fly local routes<\/p>\n
MANILA (Reuters): Philippine President Joseph Estrada said on
\nSaturday that Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways would start
\nflying domestic routes from Monday to fill the vacuum caused by
\nthe closure of Philippine Airlines (PAL).<\/p>\n
The government will let other airlines operate PAL's
\ninternational routes, he said.<\/p>\n
\"They (Cathay) will start operations on Monday,\" Estrada said
\nin an interview with radio station DZMM. This makes Cathay
\nPacific the first foreign airline allowed to fly passengers and
\ncargo on domestic routes, aviation officials said.<\/p>\n
\"(Cathay) will send immediately five Airbuses and three other
\nplanes owned by PAL will be used,\" Estrada added.<\/p>\n
\"I don't bother much about international flights because there
\nare other planes,\" Estrada said in an earlier interview with
\nradio station DZRH. \"I am more concerned about domestic flights
\nbecause they affects business.\"<\/p>\n
PAL and other domestic airlines welcomed news of Cathay
\nPacific's entry to the local aviation business.<\/p>\n
\"Whatever the government will do to alleviate the
\ninconvenience of the Filipino people can help,\" said PAL's vice
\npresident for sales Avelino Zapanta.<\/p>\n
\"Cathay Pacific (asked) for our domestic fares and schedules
\nso we gave it to them. After all, we are no longer in operation,\"
\nZapanta told Reuters by phone.<\/p>\n
\"It's a welcome development to get us over the hump in the
\nshort term,\" an Air Philippines official said.<\/p>\n
But foreign airlines should be allowed to fill the void left
\nby PAL only temporarily, the official told Reuters. \"(The
\ngovernment) should give local airlines a chance to prove that
\nthey can service the demand,\" he added.<\/p>\n
PAL, Asia's oldest national airline, closed down at midnight
\non Wednesday with US$2.0 billion of debts after failing to reach
\na deal with the unions to secure its future.<\/p>\n
The airline closed after unions rejected a management offer of
\na 20 percent equity stake in PAL in return for a 10-year
\nsuspension of the collective bargaining agreement. Estrada gave
\nno details of how the arrangement with Cathay would work and said
\nhe did not believe the government would need congressional
\napproval for the entry of a foreign airline to the domestic
\naviation business.<\/p>\n
In Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific said on Saturday that it would
\ninitially operate 10 domestic flights a day linking key cities in
\nthe Philippines using Airbus 330-300 aircraft. Additional
\ndestinations and flights will be added as the situation develops,
\nit said.<\/p>\n
Cathay currently runs 38 round-trip flights a week between
\nHong Kong and the Philippines, 34 between Hong Kong and Manila
\nand four between Hong Kong and Cebu.<\/p>\n
Since PAL closed, passengers on domestic routes have had to
\nqueue for days to get seats on one of the four other domestic
\nairlines.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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