PAF Receives 5 More Blackhawks

 9 November 2021

The Philippine Air Force receives five (5) additional S-70i Black Hawk Helicopters at Clark Air Base on November 08, 2021.  

The Black Hawk helicopters is the third and final batch of delivery by PZL Mielec to the Philippine Air Force and will complete the PAF's preliminary orders for fleet of 16 Black Hawk helicopters.

PAF spokesperson, Col. Maynard Mariano said the last batch of five S-70i "Black Hawk" helicopters were transported to the Clark Air Base in Angeles City, Pampanga on Monday morning.

"(The last five S-70i helicopters), it was transported by an Antonov aircraft (An-124) that landed in Clark around 10:45 a.m. Again the (manufacturing) company is the PZL Mielec from Poland. (They are the company that has the license from the US) to build the 'Black Hawk'," Mariano said.

The first batch of six (6) units was delivered in November 2020, followed by the second batch of five (5) units of Black Hawk helicopters in June 2021 and was formally accepted, turned over, and blessed in a simple ceremony on October 13, 2021.

The Black Hawks were first utilized by the PAF in transporting COVID-19 vaccines to various locations in the country in support of the government's effort in the midst of the pandemic.

MacroAsia Bids Back Sangley

8 November 2021

MacroAsia is bidding again construction of Sangley International Airport, this time with more financial and technical muscles as it submits $10.9-billion unsolicited proposal to design, reclaim, construct, develop, and operate Sangley International Airport in Sangley Point, a former US naval base, in partnership with the local government of Cavite.

The new joint venture dubbed SPIA Development Project Consortium is backed by airport financier Yuchengco Group under Cavitex Holdings Inc., the company responsible for the development, design and construction of the 14-kilometer Manila-Cavite Expressway project, airport builder Samsung C&T Corp. of South Korea, airport operator Munich Airport International GmbH, and London-based airport engineering and architecture services firm Arup Group, to form minority management group.

Yuchengco Group under Cavitex Holdings is engaged in construction, infrastructure development, banking, insurance, and automotive services, among others, is expected to take majority non-management portfolio.

MacroAsia will provide management and technical services for the aviation support and logistics component of the project. However, it will be a non-equity member of the consortium.

The joint-venture proposal was submitted by the group to the Province of Cavite last week for their evaluation.

The group said they submitted the proposal to the office of Cavite Gov. Juanito Victor “Jonvic” Remulla.

Province of Cavite earlier canceled the public-private partnership project with MacroAsia Corp. and the state-run China Communications Construction Co. Ltd. (CCCC) due to financial and funding issues.

According to MacroAsia, Phase 1A of the project involves reclamation of 2,000 hectares of land for the construction of a new 4km. runway, taxiway, and passenger terminal building (PTB) which is estimated to cost $2.3 billion. The PTB will have capacity of 15 million passengers on its opening date. 

Another $2 billion is proposed to be earmark for Phase 1B to expand PTB to accommodate capacity to 25 million passengers.

The second phase of the project involves the construction of the second 4k runway and parallel taxiway with a price tag of $6.6 billion.

Phase 2 also includes construction of another PTB to bring airport capacity to 75 million passengers annually.

The new proposal aims to provide an alternative international gateway for Metro Manila, with a view of easing the congestion at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) while also boosting economic growth and enhancing the local tourism and aviation industries in Cavite.

The consortium said it was ready to start full project development activities as soon as the project award is granted.

PAL,CEB Diverts DXB To DVO

 As Dubai Limits MNL Passengers

11 November 2021

 

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) and Low Cost Carrier Cebu Pacific (CEB) is diverting flights to Davao and Cebu in the Philippines as Dubai airline regulator DCAA clamps down flight to and from Manila, in retaliation to flight restrictions imposed by the IATF.

In today's flight, PR659 and 5J009 will both land at Davao International Airport from Dubai today arriving 2:55pm and 3:05pm, respectively.  Passengers will undergo quarantine restrictions in Davao City before they will be transported to Manila for free after 5 days.

Passenger allocation to Cebu, Davao, Clark and Subic has been doubled by the government this week as it increases quarantine capacity for arriving passengers across the country to 6,000 Filipinos daily.

PAL and CEB are rerouting their flights to Dubai to fly from both Cebu and Davao to work around current clampdowns on the number of passengers and flights arriving or leaving the Emirate.

This morning, PAL’s regular Manila-Dubai flight left via Davao on Thursday, carrying 100 passengers, while tomorrows flight will be rerouted from Cebu.

CEB said it has started rerouting passengers to from Dubai to Davao since October 21, and Dubai to Cebu since October 29.

CEB also said they will be rerouting Manila-Dubai flights to fly first to Cebu and Davao before proceeding to the Gulf State.

PAF Intensifies Vaccine Distribution

 As Duterte Orders Expedite Delivery to 7,000 Islands

11 November 2021

Disgusted by poor rollout of the Provincial Governments distribution of Covid19 vaccines to the Municipalities, President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered Secretary of Defense Delfin Lorenzana in Malacanang Tuesday, to expedite transport of vaccines to far flung Municipalities directly by air, bypassing regional and provincial centers.

The directive came after a 148,000 coronavirus disease-2019 (Covid-19) vaccine doses were destroyed in Pagadian City by fire without it being distributed to Municipalities of the Province.

President Duterte has also ordered the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to sanction local government units (LGUs) and local chief executives performing poorly in relation to their respective coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccination program rollout.

(I can’t pinpoint what we’re doing wrong if there really is something wrong. Why is the vaccination rollout slow? At the national level, it’s okay. The problem is in the provincial and regional level),” he said in a pre-recorded public address aired Wednesday morning.

He then instructed Lorenzana to transport the vaccines directly to the Municipal level using AFP assets as distribution tend to bogged down at the Regional or Provincial levels.

Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año said the investigation will be conducted by the Department of Health (DOH), Philippine National Police (PNP), and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) along with the DILG.

Ano told the President that they are already looking into the possibility of investigating the localities conducting snail-paced vaccination processes to expedite the filing of the appropriate sanctions against them if it is proven that they were negligent or had committed lapses.

The DILG chief issued the warning after the President ordered him to hold local government units and local chief executives accountable for poor performance in the Covid-19 vaccination rollout.

Dubai Strikes Back at MNL Restrictions

Qatar, Saudia Not Happy Too!

4 November 2021

Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA) has clamped down on Philippine-based carriers after the Philippine government imposed its flight restrictions into the country amidst covid19 pandemic.

According to source inside the Philippine's Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), Dubai regulator wanted compliance to the UAE-RP Air Services Agreement, which means permitting entry into the country of at least 1,000 passengers a day from the Gulf State.

The Philippines has capped entry into the country to 6,000 passengers per day due to quarantine restrictions imposed by the National Task Force for Emerging and Infectious Diseases (IATF). 

Manila International Airport was limited to handle 3,000 passengers per day from the earlier 1,200 passengers, Mactan Cebu was doubled to 2,000, while the balance is distributed between Clark, Davao and Subic.

The CAB personnel said DCAA wanted 1,000 of this 6,000 daily allotments, which request was denied, as allocations into the country is distributed to different countries with substantial Filipino population. Dubai is merely one of them. Same request for exemption was also filed by Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

The Philippine response was not taken lightly by DCAA as it also restricted entry into Dubai to 140 passengers per flight, the same number allocated by the Philippines for entry to Manila airport.

DCAA directive has forced Philippine Airlines (PAL) and Cebu Pacific (CEB) to cancel and divert their flights to Dubai as it was not granting them entry for additional passengers beyond the allocation. The new restrictions took effect at the beginning of winter timetable on 27 October.

In an airline advisory, PAL has cancelled flights on October 31 and November 1 and 2, due to Dubai flight restrictions.

PAL spokesperson Cielo Villaluna said their flight for November 3, 4, and 6 from Dubai will be rerouted to Davao while the November 5 flights will be routed to and from Cebu, instead of Manila. 

“Using these alternate gateways will allow us to transport our passengers between the UAE and the Philippines in the coming days.” says Villaluna.

CEB said its Dubai-Davao flights have been in place since October 21, while its Dubai-Cebu flights started on October 29 after passenger restrictions were relaxed.

“We offer ex-Dubai straight to either Davao or Cebu so we can accommodate more passengers coming home,” said CEB spokesperson Pao Lim. 

“Then we provide free flights to Manila after they’ve completed their required quarantine. There are no passenger flights exiting Cebu or Davao to Dubai, only Manila-Dubai, ” adds Lim.

PAL and CEB is preparing flight diversion to fly to Sharjah, another Emirate, just a 30-minute drive to Dubai.

CAB said there is no flight restrictions from going outside the country, particularly Dubai. What IATF restricted is the inflow of passengers coming overseas sufficient to be handled by quarantine facilities in Manila, Cebu, Davao, Clark and Subic.

The CAB official said they are already talking with their counterparts in Dubai to resolve issue soon as the country prepares gradual opening on November 15.

PAL Board Approves Capital Hike

 3 November 2021

The board of Directors of Philippine Airlines, Inc. (PAL) has officially approved the plan to infuse additional capital to the flag carrier at the PAL stockholders’ meeting held last week. 

The plan will be presented to the airline stockholders for approval on November 25, 2021.

The increase capital outlay raises Lucio Tan Group stake in the company to almost 90 percent. 

The airline also appointed new set of directors to oversee the company amid ongoing bankruptcy proceedings in US courts.

PAL board of directors for the year ahead will be composed of Lucio Tan as chair and CEO; Carmen Tan, Rowena Tan Chua, Lucio Tan III, Florentino Herrera III, Mark Chen and Junichiro Miyagawa as directors; Leonardo Alejandrino, Johnip Cua, Juan de Zuñiga Jr. and Samuel Uy as independent directors; and Gilbert Santa Maria as director, company president and COO.

PAL board also approved the appointment of SGV & Co. as the airline’s external auditor for 2021-2022.

The board also approved an amendment to its articles of incorporation reducing the par value of its authorized capital stock from P1 to P0.001, effectively diluting the shares of its existing shareholders, and restoring the par value to P1 to accommodate the capital infusion from Tan which had been announced earlier.

The airline earlier announced that it will receive investments from Buona Sorte Holdings Inc. (BSHI) which, alongside other entities controlled by the Lucio Tan group, will increase their combined stake to 89.49 percent from 80 percent after a P12.75-billion ($255 million) cash injection.

PAL Holdings disclosed the airline will issue 10.2 billion new shares to Buona Sorte—a transaction that requires the go-signal from the Securities and Exchange Commission and shareholders. 

PAL Holdings’ shareholder ANA Holdings of Japan will not participate in the capital call, and will thus see its 9.5 percent stake cut by half to 4.75%.

Buona Sorte Holdings will separately extend a $250- million five-year term loan to Philippine Airlines Inc., which is 99 percent owned by PAL Holdings.

The combined $505 million debt and equity injection would be used by PAL Inc. as “working capital” as it exits Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filed in the United States before the end of the year.

PAL Vaccine Run

 3 November 2021

The Philippines sent its biggest plane to Moscow to secure covid19 vaccines when it procured 2.7 million doses of Sputnik V on Tuesday afternoon as the government intends to inject between 1 and 1.5 million doses daily beginning next week.

Overall, the Philippines has received 108,912,460 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, both procured and donated.

PAL has been contracted by government to fly vaccines from Beijing to Moscow home. See our earlier report here. 

President Rodrigo Duterte earlier urged local government units to speed up their vaccination drives to meet the government's goal of achieving population protection by the end of the year and open back the economy.

To date, the Philippines has administered 59,473,662 doses of Covid-19 vaccines nationwide, with 27,442,969 already fully protected, which is still below the WHO herd immunity guidelines.
 

The country has received a total of 4,390,000 doses from Russia-based manufacturer.

Coast Guard Flies Cessna Caravan

 2 November 2021

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has accepted delivery of its first Brand new Cessna 208EX (N638TL) Grand Caravan aircraft. 

 

The brand new aircraft has been acquired under the PCG's Lightweight Multi-Purpose Fixed Wing Aircraft Acquisition Program with a price tag of 250 million pesos. 

 

It is the first fixed wing aircraft the agency acquired after 30 years. Another four frames are set to be ordered soon by DOTr. 

 

It will replace the Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander plane that is overdue for retirement. PCG operates four BN-2 Islanders. 

 

The new Caravan will be use for Search and Rescue roles, maritime patrols, air surveillance, ambulance, and utility transport. 

 

The heavier Caravan EX variant was certified in December 2012, with a more powerful 867 hp (647 kW) Pratt and Whitney Canada PT6A-140 engine that improves the rate of climb by 38% and payload increase of 90 lb (41 kg). It also requires a longer take off run at 2,160 feet (660 m) and its landing roll is at 1,871 feet (570 m).