Philippine Airlines (PAL) is asking the Philippine government to take measures to persuade the government of Kuwait to allow the flag carrier to exercise its fifth freedom rights on its Manila and Kuwait via Dubai flights.
Fifth freedom is the freedom to pick up passengers and cargo from a foreign country and carry them to a second country, which is the final destination.
PAL launched its four-times-a-week service between Manila and Kuwait (via Dubai) on January 17 this year to serve the needs of Filipinos in that state, utilizing a 414-seater Airbus A330 every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
However, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) of Kuwait only authorized PAL to carry passengers and cargo traveling solely between the Philippines and either Kuwait or Dubai.
Through its DGCA, the Kuwaiti government has prevented PAL from exercising its fifth freedom traffic rights as a Philippine-designated carrier, the flag carrier pointed out.
“The said rights are clearly granted under the Philippine-Kuwait Bilateral Air Services Agreement of 1977, as amended in April 1995 and February 2009,” PAL said in a statement.
In an official communiqué addressed to Foreign Affairs Secretary Jose Rene Almendras, PAL president and chief operating officer Jaime Bautista urged the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to intervene in the issue through diplomatic means.
“We respectfully request for the support and assistance of the Department of Foreign Affairs in taking the appropriate measures and initiatives that would help PAL secure the needed Kuwaiti authorization for our Dubai-Kuwait fifth freedom rights, including diplomatic protests and special representations with the Government of the State of Kuwait, as may be warranted,” Bautista stressed.
“The Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s disapproval undermines the principle of reciprocity in availing the grant of aviation rights and the commitment to ensure a level playing field among parties in the ASA (Air Services Agreement),” he added.
The airline executive continued, “It is unfortunate that the Government of the State of Kuwait, through its Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has disallowed PAL from carrying ‘fifth freedom’ passenger and cargo traffic between Dubai and Kuwait. Ironically, Kuwait Airways had been freely availing of 5th freedom traffic rights between Bangkok and Manila for close to 20 years.”
To address the imbalance, the Philippines’ Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) suspended Kuwait Airways’ Bangkok-Manila fifth freedom privileges effective March 27, 2016. However, the CAB permitted Kuwait Airways to increase its flights to Manila from six to eight each week, a move PAL likewise vehemently opposes.
PAL senior vice president for legal and general counsel Atty. Siegfred Mison said, “We intend to exhaust all available avenues to resolve this issue. We urge the CAB to reconsider any grant of additional rights to Kuwait Airlines, until and unless PAL is granted its basic air rights as allowed under existing agreements.”
PAL is urging immediate resolution of the matter to ensure equal opportunity for designated airlines and uphold integrity of sovereign bilateral agreements.
