The Philippines and Rwanda have signed their first air pact, seen to increase air connectivity between the two countries.
After two days of negotiations, the Philippine air negotiation panel, led by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), inked July 25 a memorandum of understanding which contains the text of an air service agreement.
The air service deal is the Philippines’ first bilateral agreement with the progressive Central/East African state, and the fifth air pact with a nation on the African mainland, after Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, and South Africa.
The pact grants seven weekly frequencies for the designated airlines of both contracting parties, and allows pure cargo operations of up to 400 tons per week.
The agreement also allows designated airlines to market services on third-country carriers, for as long as these carriers have the appropriate route rights and are registered to a state that allows such operations.
The Philippine air negotiation panel was chaired by foreign undersecretary Jose Eduardo Malaya of DFA’s Office of Treaties and Legal Affairs (OTLA), with transportation undersecretary Manuel Antonio L. Tamayo, labor undersecretary Jacinto Paras, tourism undersecretary Edwin Enrile, Civil Aeronautics Board executive director Carmelo Arcilla, OTLA executive director Igor Bailen, and trade and industry director Joan Karen Riola as members.
