Local airlines reported only minor losses from the four-month suspension of air links between Taiwan and the Philippines, which are set to resume next week.
Manila suspended flights following a dispute between Philippine Airlines (PAL) and Taiwanese carriers China Airlines (CAL, 中華航空) and EVA Airways (長榮航空) over the volume of passengers they can carry from the Philippines and third countries.
The resumption of scheduled commercial flights follows the signing of a letter of understanding between Taiwan and the Philippines last month.
The new agreement entitles CAL and EVA to share a 9,600 seat per week capacity, with only 4,800 seats being allowed on the Taipei-Manila route.
"The resumption of air links is a win-win result, since both CAL and EVA Air will be able to maintain [their] flight capacity to the Philippines," said Scott Shih (石炳煌), a CAL spokesperson.
"Meanwhile, it is also a plus for our counterpart as the competition from Taiwanese carriers will be reduced," he added.
According to Shih, CAL estimates its revenue loss from the suspension at around NT$500 million, about one third of the NT$1.5 billion it made on Taiwan-Philippine flights in 1998.
Flights to the Philippines account for 2.8 percent of CAL's total revenue, Shih added.
The pain caused by the suspension was equally minimal for EVA.
"Our loss during the suspension only accounts for one percent of our annual revenue, " said K.W. Nieh (
According to Nieh, the loss amounted to around NT$400 million to NT$500 million out of their total NT$48.08 billion revenue last year. Nieh said that the diversion of their business to Hong Kong and Japan decreased the loss.
Starting from Feb. 16, CAL will resume 24 flights a week to the Philippines, with 10 from Taipei directly to Manila or via Hong Kong, and 14 from Kaohsiung to Manila. EVA will resume the links on Feb. 12, providing seven daily passenger flights from Taipei to Manila.
Before the suspension in July, CAL operated 28 flights per week to Manila -- 21 from Taipei and seven from Kaohsiung. Despite the total number of weekly flights being slashed, Shih said that total capacity would not be affected since CAL will fly larger aircraft.
EVA ran ten passenger flights prior to the suspension.
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