Subic, Clark slam CAB for yoyo policies

The Subic-Clark Alliance for Development Council has criticized the Civil Aeronautics Board for issuing a shortened operating permit to foreign budget carrier Tiger Airways for its rights to operate at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport inside the Clark Freeport.

Council chairman Edgardo Pamintuan blamed such “yoyo policies” for forcing Tiger Airways to reduce its weekly flights from 14 to nine starting March 26.

In a statement issued last week, the Singapore-based Tiger Airways said it had been forced to make the cutback due to the continued uncertainty regarding the regulatory situation in Clark.

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Pamintuan said that because of the CAB’s decision, several other international airlines planning to fly to the Philippines via Clark had shelved their plans.

He said even sari-sari stores were given permits to operate for one year, not three or six months. Full Manila Standard article here:

I’ve been avoiding making run-of-the-mill blog opinion style posts here but starting now, that’s going to change.  I’m on my sixth month as a full-time legal Philippine resident and I am six of watching the folks who get paid to promote tourism shoot themselves in the foot, over and over again.

More then a year ago Clark (DMIA or Diosdado Macapagal International Airport) really came alive with great discount airlines, in most cases flying to locations existing Philippine airlines were not serving.  Last year the passenger count was over 600,000 and almost all of it new business … that is, not taken from the passenger count at existing airports.  Practically a complete win-win situation.

But enter the government chair-borne bureaucrats.  Why give an airline the rights to fly for even six months while you can make them doubt the wisdom of their decision to even come to the Philippines in the first place.  I was really taken by the line in the article about the sari-sari stores … for those of you not yet familiar with the Philippines , sari-sari stands for “variety” … these typically are little neighborhood stores that sell soft drinks, chips, ciggies (40 cents a pack and general “geedunk”.  How can you give an established, international company like Singapore Airlines such shabby treatment when you let the local junk dealer set up with virtually no regulation at all for a year at a time.

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