Marcos, Belgium airport execs agree to work on Manila-Brussels flights

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and airport officials in Belgium have agreed to work on mounting direct flights between Manila and Brussels, which are expected to open up Southeast Asia and Western Europe to travelers from one to the other.

According to the Office of the Press Secretary, the proposal for direct flights between the two cities came from Brussels airport executives, whom Marcos met on the sidelines of the ASEAN-EU Commemorative Summit.

The Belgian airport officials were said to have shown "great interest in gaining a foothold in the Philippines."

"We are working on the opportunity to have a direct flight between Manila and Brussels… And we think that basically there is a win-win for both countries to be connected directly,"  said Arnaud Feist, chief executive officer of Brussels Airport Company.

Marcos said opening non-stop flights to Brussels would serve as an opportunity for Filipinos who want to travel to Belgium and the rest of western Europe.

"When we talk about Brussels in our mind, it's really Western Europe because, very clearly, Brussels is the center of that. And that is something of great interest," Marcos said.

"The pent-up demand over the pandemic is now beginning to show itself, and the demand for air travel has actually increased a great deal more quickly than any had expected," he added.

Marcos said all capital cities in Southeast Asia were within a few hours from Manila.

"That's something that we would like to take advantage of and explore in terms of making the areas more accessible… I think there's a great deal of opportunity that would be advantageous for the both of us," Marcos said.

Philippine Airlines (PAL) officials said they were interested in providing accessibility in connecting Filipinos to the whole European nation as well as bringing more tourists from Europe to the Philippines.

"That's really the vision that we are excited to see. We want to improve the economic activities in the Philippines and also here," said Stanly Ng, PAL president and chief operating officer.

Among those who attended the event were officials from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and PAL. —Ivan Mayrina/NB, GMA Integrated News