The Philippines and Brunei ink new air pact

The Philippines and Brunei agreed on a new air service deal, increasing the number of flights and adding a new Brunei-Clark route.

This is the sixth air deal that the Philippines has sealed this year.

Under the deal, there could now be seven flights a week from Manila, two from Cebu and one from Clark Freeport in Pampanga serving Bandar Seri Bagawan in Brunei and vice versa.

The agreement also increased the number of local airlines connecting both countries from one to two carriers.

Porvenir Porciuncula, deputy executive director of the Civil Aeronautics Board of the Philippines said: “It is up to the airlines if they will take it. But in the event of an upturn, if the market recovers, we could say that the opportunity will be there.”

Currently, no Philippine carrier has direct flights to Brunei, although Philippine Airlines has a code share arrangement with the Royal Brunei Airlines.

In the wake of the agreement, two budget airlines from the Philippines, Cebu Pacific Air and Zest Airways, are said to be interested in mounting flights to Brunei.

Joshua Tan