By Riza T. Olchondra
Philippine Daily InquirerThe Philippines has obtained more flights and cargo entitlements from the Netherlands to serve the growing demand from overseas Filipino workers and tourists.
A new air services agreement with the Netherlands will allow Philippine carriers to serve Europe and give more choices to Filipino overseas workers as well as tourists and business travelers, said Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza.
It will also open up Philippine skies further, particularly at Clark international airport, the country's new gateway, he said.
The Netherlands-based KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is currently the only European airline flying between Manila and Amsterdam.
Carmelo L. Arcilla, the Civil Aeronautics Board executive director, said the new air services agreement provides for seven Manila-Amsterdam flights per week, seven Clark-Amsterdam flights, and another seven to be distributed among the country's other international airports.
An equivalent number of flights from Manila to Amsterdam will be allowed to enter these destinations.
Fifth-freedom rights were also thrown into the deal. This means that carriers flying between the Philippines and the Netherlands can go to a third country and pick up passengers there before completing the route. For example, KLM can go to a gulf country before proceeding to Manila, and vice versa.
The agreement was a major victory for Clark, which did not have entitlements from Amsterdam until now. Besides passenger flights, the new Philippine gateway also obtained cargo entitlements of 700 tons weekly compared with only 250 tons for Manila.
Data from the Department of Tourism shows that traffic between Manila and Amsterdam has been increasing from a two-way volume of 186,504 in 2005; 208,255 in 2006, and 212,078 in 2007. Load factors also improved steadily from 85 percent in 2005 to 88 percent in 2006 and 89 percent in 2007.
The rate of tourists coming to the Philippines from the Netherlands has grown 3.4 percent and from the rest of Europe, 13.84 percent.
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