TALKS to expand commercial air services between the Philippines and Thailand are set to take place in Bangkok on November 13-14.
According to Carmelo Arcilla, executive director, Philippines’ Civil Aeronautics Board, the negotiations seek to support the growth of tourism in the country.
He added: “Actual air negotiations are driven by a variety of triggers such as requests from local airlines on account of capacity or route expansion, requests from foreign governments for new or additional air services or routes, or simply to modernise the terms of existing agreements.”
The discussions come on the heels of the Philippines’ Department of Tourism’s ramped-up marketing focus on Thailand, which was recently grouped with Malaysia as a source market under the purview of its Malaysia-based marketing director (TTG Asia e-Daily, October 11, 2012).
Bangkok is a stopover for Philippine Airlines’ twice-weekly service between New Delhi and Manila. The national carrier and its sister airline, AirPhil Express, currently have the largest seat allocation on the Manila-Bangkok route, followed by Cebu Pacific.
