NAPAGKASUNDUAN ni Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at mga airport official sa Belgium ang pagkakaroon ng direct flight mula Maynila hanggang Brussels na magpapadali sa pagbiyahe sa pagitan ng Southeast Asia at Western Europe.

Nakausap ni Marcos ang mga airport official sa sideline ng ASEAN-EU Commemorative Summit.

Sa pahayag na inilabas ng Malacañang, sinabi ni Arnaud Feist, chief executive officer ng Brussels Airport Company, na ang direct flight sa pagitan ng Manila at Brussels ay “win-win” para sa dalawang bansa.

“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,” sabi ni Feist.

Sinabi naman ni Pangulong Marcos na ang direct flight ay magbubukas ng bagong oportunidad para sa mga Pilipino.

“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,” ani Marcos. “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.”

Sinabi ni Marcos ang Manila ay malapit sa mga kapitolyo ng mga basa sa Southeast Asia at magagamit umano itong bentahe sa planong direct flight na bubuksan.

“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,” dagdag pa ng Pangulo.

Sinabi naman ng Philippine Airlines (PAL) na sila ay “really interested” sa planong direct flight.

“That’s really the vision that we are excited to see. We want to improve the economic activities in the Philippines and also here,” sabi ni Stanly Ng, PAL president at chief operating officer.

Kasama sa pagpupulong ang mga opisyal ng Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Transportation (DOTr) at PAL.