Bukidnon International Airport Pushed

29 January 2014

By Imee Charlee C. Delavin

Two Lawmakers are urging the establishment of an international airport in Central Mindanao to support economic development in the area.

In a statement released yesterday, Cagayan de Oro (second district) Rep. Rufus B. Rodriguez said: that the construction of an airport for Central Mindanao and Bukidnon “will provide great opportunities for industries in which direct access to either air cargo or passenger flights is of importance”.

The proposal is contained in House Bill (HB) 3106, filed last Oct. 7 by siblings Mr. Rodriguez and Abante Mindanao (AbaMin) Partylist Rep. Maximo B. Rodriguez, Jr.

In HB 3106, Messrs. Rufus and Maximo Rodriguez proposed the establishment and construction of an international airport -- to be known as the Mindanao Central International Airport -- in the area bounded by Damulog, Bukidnon, in the north; Antipas, North Cotabato, in the east; Carmen, North Cotabato, in the south; and Alamada, North Cotabato, in the west.

HB 3106 was referred to the House Committee on Transportation on Oct. 14 for consideration.

The Cagayan de Oro representative said that building the airport “would make it easy for farmers and producers of different produce to transport their products to anywhere in the country and would also provide additional business, investment and employment opportunities.”

“Given its very strategic location, it would now be more accessible to nearby countries like Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia, which allows it to establish trade relations,” he added.

He also said that Bukidnon -- a landlocked province in Northern Mindanao -- is considered the food basket of Mindanao and is a major producer of rice and corn in the region.

However, he noted that there are no airports in the province.

“For many of these provinces, the nearest airport is the Laguindingan Airport in Cagayan de Oro City, which is considerably far from the center of Mindanao,” Mr. Rodriguez said.

He added the island group’s major airports in Davao, General Santos and Cotabato Cities are coastal airports and quite far from Mindanao’s center.

“Thus, it becomes difficult for tourists and would-be tourists to go to the various tourist sites and attractions that the region has to offer”.

Central Mindanao, also known as Soccsksargen, is composed of the provinces of North Cotabato, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, and Sarangani.

The National Statistical Coordination Board lists Cotabato City as a component city, though it is physically located in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao

ANA Closes deal with PAL

23 January 2014

Star Alliance member Air Nippon Airways (ANA) of Japan has agreed to take the minority stake of Philippine Airlines, asia's first airline."We hope to close a deal maybe in the next 30 days," PAL president Ramon S. Ang said at the launch of the elevated expressways project linking northern and southern Metro Manila dubbed as Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3. At stake is the 51% interest of the Lucio Tan group but the sale will involved only 40% interest while the remaining 10% is expected to be sold to the public.

CEB's Long Haul Future Dim

22 January 2013

Cebu Pacific’s performance on the long haul route proved to be dismal on its first month of operation to the middle east after the airline registered average load factor of 36% only despite nine months of marketing lead time.  

In a disclosure to its stockholders, Cebu Pacific said that it carried about 10,000 passengers to and from Dubai during this period short of the 27,000 the airline was expected to carry. Although it reported better figures for November and December, typical peak travel time for the Filipino migrants in the Middle East to the Philippines, the subsequent months booking proved to be a challenge despite low fares.

Its forward bookings for the first quarter of 2014 were weak, with only 20% of available seats sold prompting the airline to reduce daily frequency to five times a week beginning on the last week of January until March.

Cebu Pacific flew 14.35 million passengers in 2013 (11.04 million were domestic, up an annual 7.6%, while 3.31 million were international, 10.7% higher on year.), up 8.3% from the previous year. The airline was targeting 15 million passengers in 2013.

Analyst suggest the low turnout to be cause by  huge seasonal fluctuations and market conditions of Filipino migrant workers whose ticket purchasing is done through their labor contractors. Only few of these workers purchase their tickets independently and fly low cost airlines.

The airline saw profit fall 70.8% to P664.081 million as of September last year from P2.274 billion in the same nine months in 2012.

France Agrees Daily Flight To Paris

16 January 2014

France has agreed to grant the Philippines with seven weekly flights between Manila and Paris.

Civil Aeronautics Board Executive Director Carmelo Arcilla said the Philippines requested 14 frequencies from the French authorities but Paris granted only seven for now, an increase from the previous four it allowed in 1969.Philippine Airlines (PAL) cancelled the route in 1998 due to the Asian financial crisis while Air France cancelled the route in 2001.

Arcilla who represented Manila in the three-day talks in Paris disclosed that France agreed on third-country code sharing for Air France and KLM on the Paris-Manila route via Amsterdam.

The code share agreement means that Air France can operate from Paris to Manila via Amsterdam, using KLM as operating carrier while Philippine Airlines is the operating carrier from Manila.

The talks with France gives the AirFrance- KLM group 14 frequencies to Manila but without Air France coming over. KLM currently operates to Manila via Taipei.

PAL will enter mainland Europe initially with seven flights alternating between Amsterdam and Paris weekly this summer. The airline has operated direct flights to London since November last year. It plans to launch flight to Frankfurt and Rome also this year.

Airbus Military Bags PAF Cargo Aircraft Deal

C-295 to Compliment C-130s

15 January 2014

The Philippine Department of National Defense (DND) declared on Monday that Airbus Military has been selected as the  lone eligible bidder to the Philippine Air Force (PAF)'s medium-lift aircraft acquisition programme, edging out other bidders, PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI)'s CN295 and Alenia Aermacchi's C-27J offers.

Under the contract, Airbus Military will supply three C295 twin-turboprop tactical transport aircraft and spare parts worth PHP5.288 billion (USD118 million) to the Philippine Air Force.

Defense Assistant Secretary Patrick Velez said that the first aircraft is expected for delivery within 12 months or as early as December 2014.

Secretary Velez said that earlier delivery schedule by the end of the year was aided by the Indonesian Government after it offered to transfer their delivery slots of the same C-295M model to the Philippines.

Indonesian Air Force's ordered 9 aircraft of the same variant in 2012 which is built by Indonesian Aerospace, an EADS subsidiary. The Philipine Airbus Military plane order will be also be assembled at EADS plant in Indonesia.

The C-295, a further development of the commercially successful Spanish – Indonesian transport aircraft CASA/IPTN CN-235, made its maiden flight in 1998 with the first order coming from the Spanish Air Force.

It is also in service with the Armed Forces of 14 other countries. As of 31 March 2013, 121 C295s have been contracted and 94 are in service, two were lost in an accidents.

Operators of C-295 includes Algeria, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Finland, Ghana, Indonesia, Jordan, Mexico, Oman, Portugal, and Spain.

PAF Acquires 21 more UH-1s

14 January 2014

The Philippine Air Force (PAF) has acquired 21 additional Huey helicopters from two North American firms valued at USD30 million.

US-based Rice Aircraft Services and Canada-based Eagle Copters have won the bid to provide 21 refurbished UH-1 Huey combat utility helicopters to the Philippine Air Force.

Air Force spokesman Col. Miguel Okol said the combat utility helicopter would boost their disaster response and security capabilities.

They are scheduled to arrive in June 2014.

5J To Take Delivery of 3 Airbus 330 For ME & OZ

9 January 2014

Budget carrier Cebu Pacific is taking delivery of three more Airbus A330s this year for destinations to Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Australia.

Cebu Pacific will begin flights to Doha and Dammam by the second quarter and Riyahd and Jeddah by third quarter of this year says airline executive Lance Gokongwei.

Mr. Gokongwei said an aircraft will be delivered every quarter, starting April that by year end the airline will have five Airbus 330-300 on their fleet. 

The airline intends to fly Melborne by October this year making its first debut to Oceanea.

Cebu Pacific began its Manila-Dubai service last October 7 starting the airline's first long haul flight to the Middle East.

5J In Talks With Tiger Airways for Buyout

2 January 2014

The 6th largest LCC carrier in Asia Pacific  is buying the Philippine unit of Singapore-based Tiger Airways, an official of the Transport Ministry confirmed today.

Transport Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya confirmed the buyout offered by Cebu Pacific.

On the negotiating table is the majority share of Southeast Asia Airlines (SEAIR), operator of Tiger Airways Philippines headed by Tomas B. Lopez. The remaining 40% share is owned by Roar Aviation II Pte Ltd. of Singapore, the holding unit of Tiger Airways. 

The negotiation sale when completed will be the second dual-brand strategy implemented by Tiger Airways after successfully negotiating similar deals with Virgin Australia.

The consolidation would see both airlines working together in slot assignments and/or reallocation of flight entitlements to maximize their operations at Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

Cebu Pacific operates from Terminal 3 while Tiger Airways operate at Terminal 4.

Tigerair Philippines operates a fleet of 5 Airbus A320 aircraft.

Meanwhile, Singapore Airlines has acquired a further 7.3% interest in Tiger Airways Holdings, parent company of Tiger airways, increasing its stake from 32.7% to 40%.  Cebu Pacific's fleet is maintained by Singapore Airlines subsidiary SIA Engineering.