ASEAN’s open skies dream, anticipated to come true by this year-end, looks likely to remain unfulfilled as the 2015 deadline draws near.
Addressing this issue during yesterday’s panel discussion, Alan Tan, professor of aviation law at the National University of Singapore, said: “It remains a myth that any ASEAN airline is able to fly between any two points in ASEAN.”
Speaking exclusively to TTG Asia e-Daily, Tan added: “What we still do not have is the all-important seventh freedom rights which means that a Singapore carrier cannot station itself in Bangkok then fly from there to Hanoi. They must return home first.
“There are still various issues that need to be ironed out and it will only be settled at a subsequent stage definitely post-2015.”
Dermot Mannion, deputy chairman of Royal Brunei Airlines, was however, sanguine with the progress made over the years. “(At least) we do have more liberal access across the region.”
For instance, under the third and fourth freedom rights which has been fulfilled since the open skies policy was first mooted a decade ago, Singapore carriers can now carry passengers from Singapore to points in Thailand and back – without any restrictions on frequency, capacity or aircraft type.
Still, Brian Hogan, COO of Global Aviation Consultancy said further liberalisation will be meaningless if the infrastructure cannot cope.
“All of these do not matter without proper infrastructure. For example in Philippines, there are massive restraints. Manila is a nightmare as (a lot of) the slots are not available. Infrastructure is the biggest issue,” he said.
