Still Category 2

Administration officials are downplaying the failure of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines to get out of the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Category 2 status. The CAAP was downgraded from Category 1 by the ICAO, a specialized agency of the United Nations, back in 2008. The Aquino administration had hoped that the country would regain its former aviation safety status within this year.

After a 10-day inspection, however, a validation team from ICAO found the CAAP still unable to meet aircraft registration and flight safety inspection standards, and retained the Category 2 status.

Government officials may downplay this, but the categorization has prevented Philippine carriers from expanding their air services to the United States. The air safety downgrade prompted the European Union to place the Philippines on a blacklist in 2009, prohibiting Philippine carriers from flying to the 27 EU member states. The blacklist also led EU insurers to refuse coverage for Europeans traveling to the Philippines.

All those developments were bad news for the Philippine travel industry, even as the country’s neighbors increased direct air services to Europe and other regions. The Philippines’ problem was compounded by the end of foreign airlines’ direct flights between Manila and EU capitals due to the common carrier’s tax and the requirement to make private airlines shoulder the “overtime” pay of Customs and immigration personnel at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

The ICAO Coordinated Validation Mission concluded its evaluation as nine international and three domestic flights bound for the NAIA had to be diverted to Clark Airport the other day after a crucial flight navigation aid at the NAIA bogged down for five hours. The VOR, or very high frequency omni-directional range/ distance measuring equipment, also broke down last Oct. 9, forcing one international and 13 domestic flights to be diverted to Clark.

The NAIA has had problems with its VOR since at least about two years ago, when a replacement from the Subic airport had to be brought to Manila after the navigational equipment broke down. If the government can’t immediately address the inadequacy of facilities for travelers’ comfort in the nation’s premier airport, it should at least give priority to addressing aviation safety concerns.