Philippine Airlines can now fly to Europe after the European Union (EU) partially lifted the air ban, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) announced on Wednesday.
The decision would be effective starting Friday, July 12, 2013.
The EU blacklisted the Philippines from flying to countries in the EU since 2010 after the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) found significant safety concerns in the aviation standards of the country.
EU Ambassador Guy Ledoux said that corrective actions were progressively undertaken by CAAP, and an assessment by ICAO in October 2012 showed improvements.
Then in February 2013, a further ICAO audit found that the Philippine aviation authority undertook sufficient corrective actions to meet international norms which led the UN organization to remove all remaining safety concerns in April 2013, Ledoux added
PAL President and CEO Ramon Ang also announced that the airline planned to begin flights to London, Paris, Rome and Amsterdam by September or October.
This is good news to the country’s tourism with the reopening of direct flight routes from Philippines to Europe; it will also enhance competitiveness, and facilitate the entry of investments from the euro zone, Ledoux explained.
He also noted that the decision is applied only to PAL, Cebu Pacific was excluded from the decisi
