US FAA Restores Philippines to Category 1 Status

The Federal Aviation Authority of the United States has upgraded the Philippines back to the much coveted Category 1 status, paving the way for local carriers to launch new flights to the United States. 

faa philippines category 1

In a post to his Twitter account, US Ambassador Philip Goldberg, revealed the positive development. "Good News! Philippines compliance with international aviation safety oversight standards earns Category 1 Safety Rating," said Goldberg.

The upgrade permits Philippine carriers to launch new flights to more destinations in the United States and to upgrade existing flights to more modern fuel efficient aircraft. The news should be particularly welcome to Philippine Airlines that has been seeking expansion in the United States for several years. The carrier has been eager to replace its ageing fuel inefficient aircraft on its existing routes to California to improve profitability.

The Category 1 upgrade comes more than six years after the country was downgraded by international authorities for air safety issues and lack of oversight. In a statement released on Thursday, the FAA said that the Philippines had complied with international safety standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization. 
"With the International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) Category 1 rating, the Republic of the Philippines’ air carriers can add flights and service to the United States and carry the code of US carriers," the statement said.
The upgrade to Category 1 status was based on the most recent FAA audit of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines that took place last month.  
According to John Andrews, Deputy Director General of CAAP, the upgrade takes effect immediately. 

8 comments:

  1. well done caap. i knew you could do it!
    so happy!

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  2. Andrews for dotc sec!

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    1. I would not want that to happen. I'd like to see CAAP as an independent body from DOTC. Funny how the DOTC chief- technically, the boss of Andrews, said that he doesn't know much about aviation. We should have CAAP as an independent body, just like DPWH for raods.

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  3. finally official word, why is it that this article (good news) is so short as compared to your earlier article tarnishing the people in CAAP and may i quote your article "CAAP fails january audit" and why is there no recognition to the people responsible???

    http://www.philippineflightnetwork.com/2014/02/what-happened-to-category-1-status-caap.html

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    1. It is not the role of media to massage anyone's ego but rather to hold government and its corresponding agencies accountable. When was the last time you observed an article "praising" the US FAA or US Government? The real "good news" will be if Category 1 status is still maintained 3-5 years from now. Nobody deserves praise for doing what they were employed to do in the first place. Is it an accomplishment to show up to work and do your job? The fact that it even took this long is nothing less than an embarrassment. What was achieved was not impressive - it was competence after years of incompetence. If CAAP is that insecure that it needs media to offer a "pat on the back," perhaps the current officials are not as confident or competent as we had hoped. When Category 1 has been maintained for an equal number of years that the Philippines suffered under Category 2, then we will be impressed and provide credit accordingly.

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  4. Yes, Philippines had finally passed ICAO audit and gives the way on lifting ban imposed by EU on Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific for flying on European Union and restoring to Category 1 bu FAA. But there's still a problem.

    One of the problem is, Philippine carriers are barred on using Russian airspace. Using Russian airspace will cut the travel time for existing service of PAL in Europe. This is the "shortcut" for European flights of PAL, as well as CEB. This is also the shortest path from Philippines to North American East Coast without any stopovers (except Florida which totally needs a stop-over) using aircraft like Airbus A340 (-500 and -600), Airbus A350, Airbus A380, Boeing 747-8I, Boeing 777 (-200ER, -300ER, -200LR, -8X, and -9X), and Boeing 787 Dreamliner. However, Philippines failed to come to Aeroflot's terms on using Russia's Siberian Airspace resulting on expansion of range issue and cancelling orders of Airbus A330-300HGW by PAL.

    Other problem is only PAL and CEB can fly to Europe. Meanwhile, other airlines in the Philippines are still banned on flying European Union.

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  5. The bond between a pilot and their aircraft must be strong, built on trust and understanding. AV8 Prep learning how to fly

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