EFFORTS by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) to reform the country’s aviation oversight system recently garnered a positive assessment from European Union (EU) inspectors.
The "CAAP has a solid legal basis and the actions undertaken under the leadership of (Director General Alfonso) Cusi are positive steps toward a well-structured and managed civil aviation administration," the seven-man EU team, comprising experts from the European Commission, the European Aviation Safety, and EU member states, said in an executive summary.
The team cited CAAP's "ambitious and courageous reforms", and said CAAP actions since April "go clearly into the right direction and are deemed to allow, once effectively implemented, for significant improvements toward compliance with international safety standards set forth by the (International Civil Aviation Organization [ICAO])."
The EU team was in the Philippines last month to conduct a safety assessment of the civil aviation administration of CAAP.
Lifting of ban
The EU assessment holds out hope that the ban on Philippine carriers flying to Europe will soon be lifted. The ban was imposed in March after the ICAO raised "serious safety concerns," among others, on the dearth of qualified staff in key CAAP posts.
The EU, as well as the United States' Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), takes guidance from the ICAO.
The FAA downgraded the Philippines to Category 2 from Category 1 in 2008 also due to safety concerns. The downgrade in effect disallows the Philippine Airlines, the only local carrier servicing the US, from expanding services to that country.
