Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific Competing for Canadian Flights

Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines are going head to head competing for recently negotiated Canadian flight entitlements after Canada and the Philippines reached a new air services agreement last month that doubled the number of flights between the two countries. 

Copyright Photo: Patrick Lundgren/Flickr

According to documents filed at the Civil Aeronautics Board, both of the country's main carriers are competing for the seven additional flight entitlements that were recently negotiated with Canada. Under the new agreement, the number of flight entitlements for each country doubles from 7 to 14 flights per week. Fifth freedom rights were also lifted from 4 to 5 flights per week. Fifth freedom rights enable a carrier to fly to a country with an existing air agreement, pick up passengers, and continue on to a third country destination.

Philippine Airlines currently holds the initial seven flight entitlements to Canada. In the applications filed at the Civil Aeronautics Board, both Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific are applying for the additional 7 entitlements to Canada. According to the application, Cebu Pacific is planning to fly seven times weekly to Canada. Philippine Airlines already flies seven times per week to Vancouver with three of those flights that continue on to Toronto. PAL recently announced that it was planning to double its number of flights to Vancouver with some flights continuing on to New York. 

The Philippines has negotiated a number of new air service agreements this year with Singapore, New Zealand, France, Canada, and Myanmar. Last year, the country negotiated new agreements with Italy, Israel, Australia, Macau, Brazil, and Japan. The Philippine government under President Aquino is pursuing air talks with a number of countries in an effort to develop its open skies policy, which is designed to help the country meet its tourism goals. 

Both Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific are under-going multi-billion dollar refleeting programs to enhance fuel efficiency, add capacity, and support expansion of their respective networks. Cebu Pacific is set to acquire up to fifty aircraft, while Philippine Airlines is planning on acquiring one hundred new jets. It is expected that both carriers will be announcing a new order for long-range aircraft in the near future to support further expansion in the United States and Europe. Both carriers have revealed ambitions to serve a number of cities in Europe and the US in the near future. Obtaining the flight entitlements to Canada are critical for Philippine Airlines' plan to serve US East Coast destinations via Vancouver.