EU to Clear PH by July 10

PAL Prepares Flight to Europe

June 27, 2013

Brussels - The European Commission is expected to take Philippine Airlines initially off its aviation blacklist, citing safety improvements and compliance with ICAO Standards and practices.

Philippines got a positive impression at the EU's Air Safety Committee (ASC) in Belgium during its meeting this week for a final report as it advances application for selective lifting of ban on Philippine carriers to enter European airspace.

Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) Director General William Hotchkiss is currently in Brussels for talks with the ASC bringing with him credentials for Philippine Airlines (PAL) and its pending application to fly three European destinations under the EC SAFA Programme (European Community Safety Assessment of Foreign Aircraft).

The Philippines is entering a working relationship with EASA to implement the EC SAFA programme where CAAP is obliged to perform SAFA Ramp Checks on the aircraft of PAL flying into the European Union.

Under the programme, all inspection results need to be communicated by the Philippine CAA which performed the inspections to the other EU Member States and to the European Commission. 

The Air Safety Committee meetings (ASC) are conducted by the European Commission (EC), EASA, the Member States and Eurocontrol twice a year every June and December, and is responsible for the lifting of bans for airlines to fly European Airspace.

The Decision of the European Commission on the faith of Philippine Airlines, and the Philippines in general will be release on 10 July 2013.

Dale Kidd, Press Officer for Transport at the EU, confirmed that decision on PAL will be announced by the European Commission in spring of 2013.

PAL has requested flight permission to the European Union, with plan scheduled flight to London Heathrow starting 1 October 2013 on a code share service with Etihad Airways. The propose service equipment are Airbus 330-300, A340-300 and Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft.

The application for selective lifting initially covers Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific and Zest Air until the last two carriers inhibited and withdrawn, respectively, from the application saying they have no intention of mounting flights to Europe.

Meanwhile, United States Federal Aviation Authority (US FAA) representatives will be in Manila for 10 days starting 7 July for monitoring purposes prelude to status upgrade of the country which is scheduled between months of November 2013 to February 2014.