Inquirer Mindanao
First Posted 13:16:00 09/02/2010
DAVAO CITY, Philippines—The country’s flag carrier Philippine Airlines suffered losses of P15 million (not $80 million as reported by the Philippine Daily Inquirer) following the August 23 hostage crisis that ended in the deaths of eight visiting Chinese nationals, the airline said in a statement.
The losses were based on 1,100 cancelled bookings from Hong Kong and other parts of China.
“The $80-million loss was the number quoted by [Tourism] Secretary [Alberto] Bertie Lim as the Philippines’ lost tourism receipts after the Quirino Grandstand tragedy,” PAL said.
Speaking to reporters here, Domingo Duerme, Philippine Airlines vice president for Mindanao, said the losses came in the form of cancellations of flights for the Manila-Hong Kong route.
Citing a recent company assessment report, he said the bookings consisted of tourists from Hong Kong, Beijing, Xiamen and other parts of China.
“When you speak of Hong Kong, you are referring to entire China,” he said.
Duerme admitted that the hostage-taking crisis took a heavy toll on the airline but added they were optimistic about posting a rebound soon.
“The situation is just temporary and will normalize in the future,” he said.
As for its Davao-Hong Kong flights, Duerme said PAL also suffered re-bookings.
There were no cancellations but passengers moved their flights to later dates, he said.
“The effect of the Quirino hostage bloodbath is not severely felt in Davao City,” Duerme added.
In a briefer, PAL said despite the losses and negative travel advisories, it would continue to mount regular flights to Hong Kong and its other international destinations.
Duerme said that despite the chilling of relations between China and the Philippines over the hostage crisis, PAL would still consider China as its biggest market.
“Recent studies showed that China overtook Japan in terms of economic recovery,” he said.
Meanwhie, PAL said it has anticipated a load drip during the lean season—usually between August and November.
As this developed, a former senator said reports about Filipino domestic helpers being thrown out by the Hong Kong employers were grossly exaggerated.
"The reports are based on a few isolated and extreme cases that have been blown out of proportion because they are sensational," Ernesto Herrera, also secretary-general of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP). With INQUIRER.net
No comments:
Post a Comment