AIR PHILIPPINES Corp. on Thursday received a Senate body’s full support for the approval of its franchise for another 25 years after it defended its capacity to perform and the safety of its flights amid the pandemic.
“I will recommend to my colleagues in the body the approval of your franchise,” said Senator Mary Grace Natividad S. Poe-Llamanzares, who chairs the public services committee, during a hearing. “If anything, you need all the support you can get from the government to be able to continue operations.”
The committee deliberated on House Bill 10442 or the act renewing for another 25 years the franchise granted to Air Philippines, formerly known as Airphil Express, which is under PAL Holdings, Inc.
Air Philippines President and Chief Executive Officer Bonifacio U. Sam said that throughout the pandemic, the country’s second-largest domestic carrier has been bringing thousands of overseas Filipino workers back to their home province.
The airline has also transported needed medical supplies such as personal protective equipment and vaccines to their destinations.
Currently, the company has 770 employees while supporting 1,600 jobs in related industries.
The market share of Air Philippines is about 24%, with 32 destinations from different hubs in Manila, Clark, Cebu and Davao. As for international destinations, Mr. Sam said the airline flies to secondary cities in China, Hong Kong and other regional destinations.
In 2019, about seven million passengers were accommodated by the airline to various points of the country. The pandemic reduced the carrier’s flights by 80% in passenger load from 2019 to 2020, said Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) Chief Hearing Officer Maria Elben Sl Moro.
Nevertheless, she said that it continued to comply with CAB regulations and was previously issued a certificate of good standing.
Mr. Sam said Air Philippines had reduced its capacity by about 70% as a result of the pandemic. Even then, it hired service providers in its different stations to ensure cleaning and disinfection can be done in less than 15 minutes before the next set of passengers enter the plane.
Ms. Poe said the airlines deserved to have its franchise renewed. “We need more stakeholders in the airline industry especially now.”
Meanwhile, the senator called out the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) for not providing information on whether franchise applicants have been fulfilling their responsibility with the agency, specifically if they have been diligently paying their taxes on time and in full.
She said the agency’s lack of preparation would cause delays in the evaluation of applications for the 16 telecommunications and 12 broadcast companies, aside from the airline.
“Before we give a franchise to a company, we have to make sure that they have no liabilities,” she said. “As much as possible, we would like to finish our committee reports and hopefully take them up on the floor next week.”
The Senate will adjourn for its Christmas break beginning Dec. 18 until Jan. 16 next year. — Alyssa Nicole O. Tan
