PAL said to oppose Emirates plan for Manila growth

Philippine Airlines has asked civil aviation officials to reject plans by Dubai's Emirates Airline to add more flights to Manila from next year, it was reported on Sunday.

The airline has reportedly asked the Civil Aeronautics Board to reject the move by Emirates to add a third daily flight to Manila from January 1.

According to the Manila Standard Today newspaper, PAL has called the move "counterproductive and unjustified".

It added that PAL plans to introduce its own-operated flights to the UAE.

“We believe that it would be difficult, perhaps, impossible, for Philippine carriers to viably sustain our own operations over the long term in the face of such a commanding undue advantage on the part of our top competitor,” PAL reportedly said in a letter to authorities.

PAL said it had no objection to Emirates' current 14 flights per week but was opposed to the planned increase to 21.

Emirates announced last month plans for the increase on its Manila route as part of an expansion of services to South East Asia.

It said from December 3, the airline will bolster its number of flights to Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur from three-times-a-day to 25 per week while a third daily non-stop flight to Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital, will start from March 1 2013.