The Civil Aviation Authority (AACM) announced in a statement yesterday that it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Civil Aeronautics Board of the Republic of the Philippines on Friday, significantly adjusting capacity conditions to Manila to 20,000, which is three times its current capacity, and opening up fifth freedom rights for cargo operations.
The pact was signed during the bilateral Air Services Agreement (ASA) talks in Macau on Thursday and Friday, with the statement adding that the agreement marked the “first bilateral ASA to be successfully established since the current-term SAR Government took office”.
The statement said that the new ASA “supersedes the old document which was signed on 18 July 1997”.
The statement said that aside from the significant adjustment, other routes remain free of capacity restrictions.
Meanwhile, regarding cargo, the statement said that the Clark route remains unrestricted, while the cargo quotas for other routes are substantially increased twofold to 600 tonnes per week for each side. The statement added that both sides “agreed to fully open fifth freedom traffic rights for cargo operations, providing airlines with greater commercial expansion space to operate cargo routes between the two places”.
Moreover, the statement pointed out: “After Macau and the Philippines signed the first bilateral ASA, to meet development needs, the aeronautical authorities of both places conducted four updates to the MOU. Given that more than a decade has passed since the last update, the original terms may not accurately reflect the current Macau’s aviation development objectives. The newly reached Agreement further relaxes restrictions, aligning with the Macau government’s objective of consolidating its presence in the Southeast Asian market, and helping to deepen Macau’s positioning as the ‘World Tourism and Leisure Centre’”.
This handout photo provided by the Civil Aviation Authority (AACM) yesterday shows its President Pun Wa Kin (seated, right) posing with Carmelo L. Arcilla, executive director and alternate chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board of the Republic of the Philippines (seated, left), flanked by representatives of both sides during the two-day Air Services Agreement (ASA) talks in Macau on Thursday and Friday.
