16 July 2013
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| The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Chief Michael Huerta will visit the country in August this year to announce the new status of the Philippines aviation safety rating. The FAA currently classifies the Philippines as status “category 2” country, which bars local airlines from expanding flights to the United States due to regulatory concerns. CAAP Director General William Hotchkiss III said the announcement came after a brief visit by FAA inspectors who were supposed to be in the country for two weeks but their trip was cut short citing there is nothing substantial to do by the Philippines. “They were supposed to stay here for two weeks, but they just stayed for five days,” says Hotchkiss. Two inspectors from the FAA arrived last week for routine inspection of regulatory compliance which coincides with the announcement by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) of the partial lifting of the European Union ban to fly its airspace. Hotchkiss said the two FAA inspectors noted some minor issues, but added that all major concerns had already been addressed. The CAAP head said that he doesn't want to pre-empt the announcement by the FAA but he was certain that we will get the category 1 rating before the end of the year. |
