Japan Will Honour Air Services Agreement

At a recent Makati Business Club meeting, Toshinao Urabe, the Japanese ambassador to the Philippines, reaffirmed that his country is not discriminating against the Philippines and that Japan had every intention of honouring the Air Services Agreement between the two countries. 

Copyright Photo: Phillipine Star/Philstar.com

According to Urabi, Japan is taking action and that there is no intent to discriminate against the Philippines. The ambassador noted that his country is looking at the request by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines to lift the restrictions imposed on Philippine carriers due to international aviation safety concerns. 

The Japanese ambassador was questioned about Japan's position following a report from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines that Japan's Civil Aeronautics Board would not permit Philippine carriers to increase flight frequencies to Japanese destinations. 

The Civil Aviation Authority is frustrated with Japan's lack of response given the successful results of the recent safety audit conducted by the International Civil Aviation Organization. As the organization lifted the Philippines off of its list of countries with significant safety concerns, the CAAP believes that Japan should follow suit and remove restrictions on Philippine registered aircraft as both countries are member states of the ICAO.

Although Japan has not formally declined requests, CAAP claimed that requests by the Philippine government to lift restrictions have been ignored. The United States and the European Union also implemented bans and restrictions on Philippine aircraft. CAAP is anxiously awaiting word from EU and US authorities on the results of their inspections and whether the restrictions would be lifted. It is unclear why CAAP is not granting the Japanese authorities the same due process that is being undertaken by their counterparts in Europe and the USA as it is quite likely that Japanese authorities are awaiting the decisions of the European and American regulators prior to issuing a decision of its own.