Singapore-Phillippines low-cost flights increased

The Philippines and Singapore have agreed to increase the number of low-cost flights between the two countries. As per the agreement, airlines based in Singapore will be able to operate additional 16 services using Airbus 320 aircraft a week to and from Manila, the capital of the Philippines.

Airlines based in the Philippines will have 16 extra flights to Singapore.  

At present, airlines based in the Philippines and Singapore operate over 100 flights a week between Singapore and various destinations in the Philippines. 

So far the maximum number of permitted flights was 100, under a pact signed in August 2001. 

The number of services was decided to be raised following talks held by officials from both countries. 

In a statement, Singapore’s Ministry of Transport said that, according to the new agreement, Singapore-based airlines would enjoy greater access to and from other cities in the Philippines, such as Cebu, Davao and Clark. 

The website travel.asiaone.com quoted an aviation expert as commenting that the new air deal was not likely to benefit Singapore Airlines, the national airline of Singapore.

At present, Singapore Airlines flies on the Singapore-Manila route three times a day using the Boeing 777 aircraft. 

Tiger Airways and Jetstar Asia, both budget airlines, and SilkAir, a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, now operate Airbus A320 aircraft on the Singapore-Manila route. 

According to the Singapore’s Ministry of Transport, air traffic between Singapore and the Philippines has been increasing by 17% a year, on an average, since 2004. 

Regardless of the worldwide slowdown in the economy and a slump in demand for air travel, traffic between Singapore and the Philippines went up by 12% in 2008 compared with the traffic in 2007, Singapore’s Ministry of Transport has said.

It may be noted that this growth in air travel took place even as international passenger traffic in the Asia-Pacific region dropped by 2.2% over the same period. 

The expansion of the travel pact between Singapore and the Philippines, Singapore’s Ministry of Transport added, was a part of a bigger plan to open up the skies of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) region. 

Following liberalisation of the air ties between Singapore and Malaysia, low-cost carriers now fly between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, as well as Sabah and Sarawak in East Malaysia.