Experts see aviation sector earliest recovery in mid-2023

Experts in the aviation sector are seeing a recovery for the industry in the middle of 2023 or in 2024 following the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Civil Aeronautics Board said Friday.

"Ang maganda ganda pong balita, 'yung mga [global expert] sa aviation industry ay nagsasabi noon na mga 2024 pa makare-recover ang global airlines. Pero ngayon medyo gumanda, sabi nila mga middle of 2023 ay maaaring makabangon na ang ating airlines," Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) Executive Director Atty. Carmelo Arcilla said at the Laging Handa public briefing.

(The good news is, global experts were saying global airlines in the aviation industry will recover in around 2024. But now it's a bit better, they say the airlines could recover by the middle of 2023.)

Arcilla recalled that the Philippine airline industry had about P48 billion in losses in the previous months. Globally, airlines streamlined their operations and had liquidity problems.

The Philippine Airlines Inc. (PAL) months ago filed a petition seeking for local recognition of the proceedings as well as the decisions of a US bankruptcy court in relation to its bankruptcy as part of its restructuring plan.

Arcilla said that the aviation industry received "overwhelming" complaints on refunds by passengers with the cancellation of their flights amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Further, he said that to respond to the issue, the Inter?Agency Task Force (IATF) issued a resolution giving the airlines option to convert or place the value of the passengers' tickets to a travel fund. The option ended in December 2020.

"Sa aming pagsusuri naman, unti-unti nang nakatutugon ang mga airline sa kanilang obligasyon na mag-refund," he said.

(Upon our examination, the airlines are gradually meeting their obligation to refund.)  —LBG, GMA News