Ownership issues defers flight plans!
January 11, 2010
Koror- Newly formed airline Pacific flier suffered a stumbling block in its bid to launch international flight services to the Philippines after the FAA refused to grant it a foreign air carrier's permit.The FAA decision prompted the Palau-based carrier owned by Aviation Matters to suspend and defer its flight plans from Koror to Brisbane, Manila and Guam scheduled for January 12 launch due to ownership issues as found by the FAA, an airline executive said Monday.
"We are still waiting for the FAA's approval but unfortunately they wont be coming any time soon due to some technical and legal issues with them" says Eckert Seamans, Legal representative for the airline.
Pacific Flier Airline is supposed to start flight on January 12 using an Airbus A310-300 from Hi Fly-Transportes Aereos, S.A, a Portuguese-based leasing firm. But Continental Micronesia protested said application on grounds of ownership as effective control of the airline belongs to HiFly, a charter airline based in Lisbon Portugal.
The FAA said that while Aviation Matters, the holdidng company of Pacific Flier, is incorporated in Palau, majority of its owners are not citizens of the island making it a foreign controlled airline. Due to ownership issues, the operators permit was denied killing the airlines hope of flying the pacific skies under the current corporate regime.
"We already filed a petition to the FAA for an exemption to the CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) for a foreign air carrier permit and they are pending resolution" says Seamans.
While the airline waits for its approval, they were prevented from selling airline tickets for the proposed destination until a permit is issued.
The leased aircraft (cn495) with registry CS-TEI is capable of accommodating 18 business and 176 economy passengers says Shane Styles, the airline’s marketing head.
"The Airbus 310 is supposed to arrived from Lisbon to Clark airport in Manila via Dubai tomorrow as it start scheduled flight to Koror" says Styles. One way fare from Clark has been pegged at $230 per person and $459 return, exclusive of government taxes.
Pacific flier scheduled departure every Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday from Palau to Manila Clark at 7:00 AM with arrivals at 10:35AM for a travel time of 2 hours and 30 minutes. Schedule for departures from Clark is every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday leaving at 5:40PM arriving Koror at 7:10PM Local time. It was then scheduled to leave for Brisbane in Australia and back to Koror before proceeding to Guam and back to Koror then Manila in that rotation.
Styles said that flyers were already circulated to travel agents in a 16-page brochure offering packages in Guam and Palau but the airline's booking engine was disabled by FAA preventing them to take online bookings.
i'll believe it when i see it!
ReplyDeleteThe only correct thing about this post is the aircraft and the passenger configuration and yes PacificFlier is going to be starting service.
ReplyDeleteThe rest of the Blog is totally inaccurate. Whomever this bloger is they're not only misinformed they don't have the slightest clue about this subject....I would warn anyone who reads any other post by this Bloger that these blogs need to be treated as what it is....99% inaccurate, full of glareing errors and il-informed B.S.
Example: Anyone who thinks the U.S. FAA has regulatory authority over the Phillippines is certifiably nuts....this Blog'er doesn't even know the difference between the U.S. FAA and the U.S. DOT....it's a work of fiction.
thanks for the kind comments. You can always refer to the disclaimer notice. By the way if you have better facts than us you can always start by sharing it to the world. We would appreciate it very much. Maybe we are not as enlightened as you are. Better still, you can always email us the correct information at philippineairspace@yahoo.com so that we can correct them accordingly. Thanks for dropping by.
ReplyDeleteProbably this article might be inaccurate too!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mvariety.com/pacific-fliers-touchdown-delayed.php
Another misinformed perhaps?
Does it mean Pacific Flier has already flown up and away?
To my friends at The Philippine Airspace Blog.
ReplyDeleteThe article in the mvariety.com about PacificFlier is correct...go figure, someone who actually cares about accuracy....you know, actual facts.
It's a great example for you to follow.
So what keeps Pacific Flier on the ground? Nothing has been said about the airline's reason not flying other than what is posted on this blog.Perhaps you have seen better "facts" than this site has to offer. Why not share it with them and to us rather than complained about its inaccuracies? By the way, the blog's article doesn't say anything about the FAA's regulatory authority in the Philippines.
ReplyDeleteWe hear you will not have to wait much longer to know what is happening with Pacific Flier as there are going to be new announcements from them soon that will clear up any confusion in the above comments. In meetings recently we have been told they are already employing staff in Palau and putting the finishing touches on their marketing campaigns. It will be exciting to see a new airline flying in Micronesia/Asia..
ReplyDelete