European Union: updated airline blacklist bans airlines from Philippines and Sudan

To improve safety in Europe, the European Commission – in consultation with Member States’ aviation safety authorities – has decided to ban airlines found to be unsafe from operating in European airspace. The 'blacklist' was established in 2006 and is updated annually.

The latest update of March 30, 2010 imposes an operating ban on all airlines from Sudan and the Philippines due to noncompliance with international safety conditions. Some Iran Air jets will also be banned from flying to Europe while North Korea's state-owned carrier Air Koryo has received a partial exemption from the airline blacklist.

Source: EC press release of March 30, 2010

Find updated list here>>.

Philippines: kidney transplant 'tourism' banned

The Philippines today announced a ban on kidney transplants involving overseas patients in an effort to stamp out the murky organ trade, which preys on some of the country's most vulnerable and impoverished people.
The thriving "transplant tourism" trade made the Philippines one of the world's cheapest places for wealthy foreign patients seeking to buy a new kidney.
Organ sales are illegal in the Philippines. But in each of the past few years, as many as 500 foreign patients, including Britons, received kidney transplants, the vast majority of them from people who were not relatives. The Philippines became a transplant "hotspot" after China and Pakistan, among the world's largest sources of donated kidneys, adopted tough measures to curb organ sales.

Source: guardian.co.uk; full article here>>.

"Tourism chief wants travel tax scrapped"

As reported by Veronica Uy, at the Inquirer, "The travel tax imposed on Filipinos traveling abroad should be abolished as it 'dampens' their mobility, Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano said Friday.
At the opening of the 15th Travel Tour Expo, which had 170 exhibitors from 23 countries at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City, Durano said: 'I support the abolition of [the] travel tax and let us find a sustainable source to fund the tourism sector.'
The travel tax ranges from P300 to P2,700, depending on one’s job and airline seat classification. Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their dependents are among those who get special rates." Read more>>

Air Agreement Dispute

The Air Agreement between the Philippines and Taiwan collapsed in July when the Philippines accused Taiwanese carriers of failing to stick to the agreed 3000 passengers per week. Philippines Airlines (PAL) has announced that it is cancelling scheduled flights to and from Taiwan on Friday 1 October unless agreement is reached.

(Originally posted by John Downes)