PAL cancels Taiwan flights

PAL cancels Taiwan flights

MANILA (AFP): Philippine Airlines (PAL) canceled all flights
to Taiwan from Friday due to a "still unresolved" aviation
dispute, as Manila and Taipei both edged closer to scrapping
direct air links.

"As of 6 p.m. (1000 GMT) today, Philippine Airlines was forced
to cancel its Manila-Taipei and Taipei-Manila services
tomorrow ... in the absence of official advice from Taiwan
concerning the lapsed Air Services Agreement between the
Philippines and Taiwan," the flag carrier said in a statement.

Two PAL flights bound for Taipei and their return flights to
Manila scheduled on Friday were affected, it said.

PAL said it will "evaluate the situation" on Friday to decide
what to do in the succeeding days.

The Philippines suspended a bilateral aviation accord in late
July, accusing Taiwan carriers China Airlines (CAL) and Eva Air
of using aircraft larger than allowed and taking passengers to
third-country destinations.

Manila gave the Taiwanese airlines until September 30 to agree
to reduce combined weekly passenger volumes to 3,000 from the
current 9,600 or stop flying the Manila route beginning October
1.