The Philippine Embassy in Brussels, Belgium. (Photo from its Facebook page)
BRUSSELS, Belgium — A direct flight from Manila to Brussels may soon start after President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Brussels airport officials on Tuesday agreed to work on mounting direct flights between the two cities.
Undersecretary Cheloy Velicaria-Garafil said in a statement that the proposal to open the Manila-Brussels direct flight came from Brussels airport officials as they “showed great interest in gaining a foothold in the Philippines.”
Arnaud Feist, chief executive officer of Brussels Airport Company, said the Manila-Brussels direct flight would be a “win-win” for both countries.
“We are working on the opportunity to have a direct flight between Manila and Brussels… And we think that basically is a win-win for both countries to be connected directly,” Feist said.
According to Marcos, a non-stop flight to Brussels will serve as an opportunity for Filipinos to explore what Belgium and the rest of western Europe have to offer.
“When we talk about Brussels in our mind, it’s really Western Europe because, very clearly, Brussels is very much at the center of that. And so 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 I had expected,” he added.
During the meeting, Marcos pointed out that all other cities in Southeast Asia are a few hours away from Manila.
“That’s something that we would like to take advantage of and exploit in terms of making the areas more accessible… I think there’s a great deal of opportunity it will be advantageous for the both of us,” he said.
In a press statement, the Office of the Press Secretary said Philippine Airlines officials were “really interested” in connecting Filipinos to Europe and bring more tourists from Europe to the Philippines.