MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino has given the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) a year to have the ban on Philippine carriers to European skies lifted, a Palace official said yesterday. “I think he (Mr. Aquino) gave them (CAAP leadership) a year, and they committed that it will be done in a year or less,” said presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda. CAAP is now under the leadership of Ramon Gutierrez. Lacierda said the government has hired technical personnel and consultants in a move to take the Philippine aviation industry out of a ratings downgrade by the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) a few years ago. Local airlines are presently banned from expanding operations in the US and Europe. The FAA downgraded the Philippines to Category 2 from Category 1 in 2008 after a safety audit conducted in November 2007 showed that some policies of the local aviation sector are below international standards. One of the primary issues was the lack of qualified technical personnel who will carry out procedures that ensure the safety of the Philippine air transport sector. “The DOTC and the CAAP are on top of the situation with respect to taking us out of Category 2 and they have implemented some measures. In fact, the President just recently signed an EO authorizing the CAAP administrator to hire more people,” Lacierda said. Lacierda also brushed off reports about the possible sale of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 saying the President wants to make sure that the terminal is functioning properly. In November 2010, Malacañang defended seven of its new appointees to CAAP, saying they are highly qualified technical personnel who can help lift the ban on Philippine carriers to European skies. “The appointments, in fact, address that issue of the deficiency of highly qualified technical people. They (CAAP) have nothing to worry about. We are doing the right thing. The appointments are in the right direction,” Lacierda said. Concerns have been raised after Aquino made new appointments even as former CAAP head Alfonso Cusi was still trying to elevate the country’s aviation status and get an upgrade. “We have appointed technical people who are now qualified technical people, and therefore, we are in fact answering the concerns of the organization. Hopefully that would take us out of category two,” Lacierda said. Source:- http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=679907&publicationSubCategoryId=63
