MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Good afternoon, Malacañang Press Corps, and welcome to press briefing today, September 10.

Last September 3, the Philippines and France through the French Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines signed an agreement to expand the technical cooperation agreement on aviation safety. This reinforces the established framework of the agreement and also aims to enhance cooperation in air traffic management, infrastructure development, maintenance and training.

And to give us more details on this strengthened partnership between the Philippines and France, we have with us today Department of Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the French Republic to the Republic of the Philippines, Her Excellency Marie Fontanel, and General Manager of the Air France-KLM for Southeast Asia and Oceania, Femke Kroese.

Good afternoon, Mr. Secretary and Madam Ambassador and Ms. Kroese. Let’s start with Secretary, sir.

DOTR SEC. BAUTISTA: Good afternoon. First of all, I’d like to thank all of you for attending this press briefing. This is quite an important one. I think it’s an announcement that will make Filipinos happy because they will be able to fly non-stop from the Philippines to Paris and from Paris to the Philippines. And I would also like to thank Ambassador Marie Fontanel for working hard to make this non-stop and direct flight happened ‘no. It was not easy to do it, we work closely with all the Philippine regulatory agencies and we’re happy that we will be announcing this today in the presence of Ambassador Fontanel together with the General Manager for Southeast and Oceania of Air France, Ms. Femke Kroese.

So, regarding that agreement that was signed early September, it is an MOU signed between the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines and the French Civil Aviation Authority and this is to assist our agency for capacity-building in improving safety and efficiency in managing the civil aviation of the country. You know, France is advanced in terms of aviation policies, aviation practices and we’re happy that the government of France extended this assistance to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines for us to be ensured of safe flights and airport operations here in the country.

So, in terms of what will be announced, I will give the floor to Ambassador Marie and Ms. Femke Kroese.

AMBASSADOR MARIE FONTANEL: Thank you so much, Secretary, and good afternoon to everyone. Magandang hapon po and I’m delighted to be here actually. This is one of the more frequent questions I received when I was posted in the Philippines more than a year ago: Will there be, again, a direct flight from Manila to Paris? This is a question we could not answer last week when we had this signature ceremony, it was on the way. But now, officially today, it’s possible to confirm.

Let me mention from elements of the context here regarding the bilateral cooperation between our two countries. It’s true that the Philippines used to be linked to many European capitals back then – Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Rome and Paris. But today and for many years from now, it’s the only major ASEAN country without a direct flight to Europe. And for twenty years, the Philippines has been lacking direct connection with my country, France, and for five years with the European Union.

It means that the reopening of a direct route between the Philippines and Europe has been eagerly awaited and I’m particularly proud and happy that it is with Air France and a direct connection, Paris-Manila flight today. It puts an end to, maybe, an anomaly by reconnecting the Philippines with Europe and France.

It testifies also, I think, to Air France confidence in the Philippines market at the time when flights between Europe and the Philippines are set to increase by more than 4% a year between now and 2042. After 20-year absence, Air France will reopen an office in the Philippines alongside its partner, historic partner which is present here, KLM, already present in the country.

The direct non-stop service between the Philippines and France will probably most likely boost trade, tourism exchanges between our two countries and more generally with the European Union.

In terms of tourism, of course, with the connection of the two air hubs of Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris and Ninoy Aquino International Airport here in Manila consolidating the role of France and the Philippines as a gateway to Europe and Southeast Asia in terms of trade at the time when negotiations on a free trade agreement are resuming with the EU.

In terms of foreign direct investment, by removing a psychological barrier to trade and boosting the interest of French and European investors in a particularly dynamic Philippine market. And the reopening of this direct route was made possible, thanks to the invaluable help of Secretary Jaime Bautista and the opportunity also of the modernization of NAIA.

Secretary Bautista’s support was indispensible in facilitating all the formalities with the Civil Aeronautics Board, the CAB, and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, the CAAP, whose Director General, I would like also to thank today. And I also thank about all your team behind you, Secretary, and particularly Undersecretary Bobby who is here also with us today.

The modernization of NAIA as part of the Build Better More program launched by President Marcos Jr. made this project possible. It’s no coincidence that we are announcing the reopening of the line just a few days before the airport’s privatization. I would like to sincerely thank Ramon Ang for his invaluable help also and wish him very success… in every success in implementing this great project for the Philippines.

And the cooperation of the Philippines’ two major airlines, Philippines Airlines and Cebu Pacific was also invaluable. I would like to thank Captain Stanley Ng, Xander Lao and Lance Gokongwei for the help.

The choice of December for the launch of the route has also strong symbolic value – it’s a real Christmas present, opening the line for the first weekend of the most important ‘ber’ month. It’s also the weekend of the reopening of Notre Dame in Paris, five years after the fire that ravaged this monument to which Catholic all over the world so attached.

That is why it is really a great news today. It is now in our hands to make it a success in the long run. Mabuhay! Thank you so much for listening to me.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Thank you, Madam Ambassador. And now, let’s hear from the Air France-KLM General Manager, Madam Kroese.

AIR FRANCE-KLM GM FEMKE KROESE: Thank you! Bonjour, good afternoon, a pleasure to be here with you today and Honorable Jaime Bautista, Secretary of the Department of Transportation, Her Excellency Marie Fontanel, Ambassador of France to the Philippines, distinguished guests and welcome media partners this afternoon.

My name is Femke Kroese and I’m the General Manager for Air France-KLM for Southeast Asia and Oceania. And it’s really a true pleasure as mentioned also by the Ambassador to be here with you today to make this announcement.

We are very proud to expand our network and we will announce today that we are launching Air France Manila to Paris starting on the 8th of December and we will operate three days a week – Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. We will offer non-stop flights, so that’s really the first to go to the City of Paris as for these dates. And the flights will also be complementary with for already existing services of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines which are actually operating on the other days of the week, so four times weekly – on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

So it combines Air France and KLM, we will be offering daily services from that dates. We also offer very convenient night flights, so we will be arriving very early in the city of Paris to have the full day to explore.

We are operating our A-350-900 Airbus 350 series which is also a new generation aircraft, so very environmental-friendly and actually, in terms of C02 emissions, it’s 25% less than the prior aircrafts that we were using. In terms of the cabin layout, we’re operating the 324 seats: 34 seats in the business cabin; 24 in premium; and 266 economy seats.

And then, to give you also the timings and the flight numbers – from Manila, the flight number will be Air France 209, and it will depart in the evening at 9:50 P.M. and it will arrive in Paris the following morning, very early, just before 6 A.M. – 5:50 in the morning. From Paris’ Charles de Gaulle, we will be operating with Air France 208, and it will depart from 10:20 P.M. and will arrive in Manila the following day at 7:30 P.M. and the flight time will be approximately 14 hours for this direct service.

We have also some information about the Air France – KLM Group. So we operate one of the most extensive networks not only in Europe but also worldwide. The group combines, so it’s Air France-KLM but also we have a local carrier, TransAsia. We are operating close to 300 destinations worldwide. So from Paris, we will open up to the rest of the world as well.

And as a flagship carrier, Air France is, of course, promoting France and that already starts when you fly on board of our aircrafts especially the [unclear] economy and the food and beverage is important for French people. And we work to ensure that Michelin Star Chef for our business class cabins who are preparing the menu. And we are also serving champagne in all of the cabins. So in economy cabin, premium and business cabin, everybody can enjoy already a glass of champagne when taking off on our flights. So it’s really the way to celebrate the [unclear]. So you can arrive in Paris in style.

Our group is very committed also to the future, and we do find it important that we are playing also a role. As I was explaining already that we are starting use more and more new generation aircrafts, I’m very proud also that we will have that on Manila routes with the Airbus 350-900 series. But we also have made a commitment on sustainability as an Air France-KLM Group, and we have a commitment to reduce our Co2 emissions by 30% by 2030.  We are working on different angles for fleet renewables it’s one of the main models, we’re also having already a percentage of a sustainable aviation fuel onboard our flights. So this is really a strong commitment that we have as a frontrunner within the aviation industry.

And by closing off, I would really like to thank, in particular, all the authorities for supporting. So Manila International Airport Authority; the Civil Aviation Board; the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines; of course, honorable Mr. Bautista, Secretary of the Department of Transportation who are with us today; and also, honorable Undersecretary Roberto Lim who are also with us today; Ambassador, Her Excellency Marie Fontanel; and, of course, the full French Embassy team for making this possible in a relatively short period. Our appreciation and we look forward to start to serve here from the 8th of December and to welcome all of you onboard to fly soon as well.

Thank you very much.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Thank you. Thank you for all the details about the direct flight between Paris and Manila. I’m sure our friends in media have a lot of questions. They’re so excited upon hearing the champagne. Okay, let’s open the floor. Katrina Domingo, ABS-CBN.

KATRINA DOMINGO/ABS-CBN: Good afternoon, Secretary Bautista. How prepared is the NAIA in terms of receiving unexpected influx of passengers from the opening of these direct flights because even without it, we have already encountered challenges continuously and consistently in the country’s main gateway.

DOTR SEC. BAUTISTA: NAIA is always ready to accept these passengers. Of course, you know that NAIA is a very congested airport, and this is the reason why we are privatizing it and making some more improvements. But for these particular flights, NAIA is very much prepared. NAIA will work closely with the officials of Air France–KLM, their ground handlers, their caterers so that Air France will have smooth operations here in the country.

So, no worries about getting some issues or problems for the passengers of these non-stop flights from Paris to Manila.

KATRINA DOMINGO/ABS-CBN: Sir, follow-up question. You mentioned that the CAAP will work closely with the French Civil Aviation Authority to assist our agency for capacity building and improving safety and efficiency in managing the civil aviation. What aspects in particular will the French agency aid the Philippines in?

DOTR SEC. BAUTISTA: It’s a very extensive cooperation. One is adopting best practices in the industry. This training of technical people is one important aspect. Also, we’re looking at following their practices in terms of environmental protection.

So it’s a wide-range of cooperation. And we really wanted to work with them because we don’t want to experience what happened in early 2000 when the Philippines was blacklisted in EU. Remember during that time, because we were blacklisted for non-compliance for international standards, we were blacklisted, and Philippine carriers were not allowed to operate in Europe. And also during that time, the Philippines was downgraded to Category 2 by the US-FAA ‘no, maybe you remember that, which resulted to non-expansion of routes by the Philippine carriers. During that time, Philippine Airlines bought new 777-300 which should be operated to the US but as a penalty for downgrading to Category 2, we were not able to use those new airplanes – bought from the US cannot operate to the US.

So those are the things that we don’t want to happen. The International Civil Aviation Organization is now very strict in terms of regulating different aviation authorities ‘no. And there is a scheduled audit to be conducted by the International Civil Aviation Organization this coming year, early 2025, and with the assistance of the French DGAC, we should be able to perform well during the audit. This is also in preparation for that audit.

KATRINA DOMINGO/ABS-CBN: Sir, last from my end. Why did the DOTr decide to choose its French counterparts as their partners? Because in 2023, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said that he is quite keen on replicating the Gatwick Airport’s practices. So why did the DOTr choose the French over the British this time around?

DOTR SEC. BAUTISTA: Actually, Gatwick Airport is just an airport operation. So airport operation is a very different from the regulatory function of the Civil Aviation Authority. So I think the French DGAC, having had a very good experience in regulatory and aviation operations, will be one of our best partners.

AMBASSADOR MARIE FONTANEL: Can I add to that, maybe just to answer that also. When we signed the memorandum of cooperation last week, it was kind of renewal of vows. Actually, it was the fourth time that DGAC and Filipino counterparts signed this agreement, so it’s not new actually; it’s a long-standing cooperation between DGAC and the Filipino authorities.

I think it was the fourth time, so probably 2018? It’s every two years basically.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Thank you. Next question? Tristan Nodalo, NewsWatch Plus.

TRISTAN NODALO/NEWSWATCH PLUS: Hi! Good afternoon. I think the answer to my question has already been touched by Secretary Jaime but I just want to get more insights on what happened before why there were suspensions of direct flights between Philippines and France? And what changed now that you reopened it? And, sir, is it right that this is the first direct flight between Philippines and a European country? Could you enlighten us more about it?

DOTR SEC. BAUTISTA: On that question, is this the first direct flight? Yes, this is the first direct flight from Europe to the country during the term of President Marcos. In the past, there were direct flights. Before pandemic, Philippine Air Lines flies non-stop from Manila to UK, to London Heathrow. Even many, many years ago Air France also operated non-stop from Manila to—20 years ago it was a non-stop flight. I remember they were operating the Airbus 340 during that time.

There were even flights from other countries to the Philippines from Europe but since the pandemic these flights have stopped. The only European carrier that flies to the Philippines now is KLM but it’s not a non-stop flight from Amsterdam to Taipei to Manila and back to Taipei and to Amsterdam. So, this is not a non-stop flight.

So, these flights starting December 8 will be a non-stop flight.

TRISTAN NODALO/NEWSWATCH PLUS: One follow up question. For Ambassador Fontanel, maybe how do you see this impacting the people-to-people exchanges for example in terms of visa applications? Are you expecting an increase since you’re opening a direct flight between Manila and Paris?

AMBASSADOR MARIE FONTANEL: So, definitely this is a very important milestone on the part to strengthening our bilateral relation. We have a long-standing relationship together France and the Philippines but having this direct flight that was really once again a request, a Christmas wish from many Filipinos and also French partners I do hope it will have an impact. We are currently trying to adjust the numbers, the hypothesis but we are doing, you know, that a lot already in issuing visa we might be the first country of European Union in numbers of visa every year.

Last year was, to give you a number, 37,000 visas issued in this embassy for France and so, yes, probably there will be an increase so we are currently starting to work on this. We have been working a lot on considering the decision to reopen and now of course the work continues. In another sense, we have to make this direct flight to a success and the capacity to issue more visas will be the center of our work.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Okay. Alexis Romero, Philippine Star.

ALEXIS ROMERO/PHIL. STAR: Secretary, do you have figures on how many passengers are expected for every year bound for France?

DOTR SEC. BAUTISTA: Actually, we don’t have right now that figures but we will get back to you. We’ll ask the Department of Tourism, who’s really working on these projections.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Okay. Vans Fernandez, DZRJ.

VANS FERNANDEZ/DZRJ: Good afternoon. How can DOTr sustain a non-stop flight, sir, between Manila and Paris? Kasi iyong PAL previous direct flight from Europe were matched by a very low fares from European airlines, any reaction on this?

DOTR SEC. BAUTISTA: Well, I think the question should be directed to Air France.

VANS FERNANDEZ/POLICE FILES TONITE: Yes. How can DOTr sustain a non-stop flight between Manila and Paris? Kasi the PAL’s previous direct flight to Europe were matched by a very low fares from European airlines, yes, any reaction on this?

AIR FRANCE–KLM GM FEMKE KROESE: Yeah, of course we’ll be offering the non-stop flights so that’s also an advantage to have that. And for Filipinos we know that Paris as a destination is very attractive, right? It’s the second most visited destination in Europe and we will be offering competitive fares as competitive that you can make it a work for both Air France airline but also for the Filipino community and the French community to be able to travel to Paris and to discover both Paris and the rest of the network we make sure we have good fares in place to make this work.

VANS FERNANDEZ/POLICE FILES TONITE: Do you have any amenities if we are going to ride to your airlines?

AIR FRANCE–KLM GM FEMKE KROESE: You would like to know also a bit of an idea on the fare? So, we are actually launching the flights in a system just in the next hour. So, we’re starting the sales only today. In terms of the fare I do have some fare insights, we’re having the economy fare we’ll have it starting from 1,258 US dollar return fares.

DOTR SEC. BAUTISTA: Very reasonable.

AIR FRANCE–KLM GM FEMKE KROESE: We’re also relaunching some promotional fares within the next periods – for this I don’t have the exact fares yet, just stay tuned. We’re really launching today the system and yeah, as mentioned we’ve been really working very much on getting all the necessary approvals and yes, stay tuned for more details on that and the promotional fares as well.

AMBASSADOR MARIE FONTANEL: Can I add? Maybe not as an Ambassador but as a citizen and someone who sometimes also go on the booking website and you know how it goes, I mean sometimes for the exact same plane you can have a different bunch of fares. So, the important thing is to get tuned and promotional offers will probably be very interesting so if you want to benefit from them please go and watch. Maybe it’s not my [unclear], sorry to say but it’s always the question of if the direct flight is a success? Of course, it will help reduce the price. You know it’s the law of the market. So, it’s really difficult to have a definitive answer on that because it really depends on the success.

It’s of course a challenge for all of us I would say to make this direct flight a success and we will learn by doing because Air France have been out, I mean not KLM, but Air France has been out of the country the last 20 years so they will have also to catch up with how it goes here.

AIR FRANCE–KLM GM FEMKE KROESE: And to answer that, it’s in of complement with KLM so we have of course seven flights a week non-stop and bound with the short stop in Taipei. So, we also have more capacity in the market, right, so we have more opportunities for you to book flights and to get access of fares as well.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Let’s go back to Alexis Romero, Philippine Star.

ALEXIS ROMERO/PHIL. STAR: To Femke, how would you describe the Philippine market?

AIR FRANCE–KLM GM FEMKE KROESE: The Philippine market has always been on our radar. It’s of course a market that is growing rapidly, has a GDP of over five percent. So, it’s been always on the radar of Air France network teams in head office. Southeast Asia as a whole and Asia is for us a key strategic market for Air France and KLM. And Philippines has or [unclear] have operations in the past. Of course, post-COVID the full airline industry situation has been complicated. So, yes, we are very happy to announce, it will be challenge but with the Philippine markets growing rapidly, with a GDP you’re showing knowing that Paris is the second most visited destination by Filipinos in Europe we do believe there is a strong market. Also of course, what make Philippine market interesting is the seamen market that is here, the marine and offshore market that is quite big. This is the market that we serve already with KLM today and for sure we also will have opportunities to accommodate this traffic on the Air France note of flights. So it’s for us a very interesting and strategic market.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Okay. Let’s go to Ivan Mayrina first, GMA 7.

IVA MAYRINA/GMA 7: On related point, how about the interest of the French people on the Philippines? How would you describe it?

AIR FRANCE–KLM GM FEMKE KROESE: I think the interest is the same here for Filipino I think that Paris is an interesting destination. From the French market as well we have very high expectations. Actually, we expect also to sell quite a bit from or [unclear].. There’s a strong interest in tourist that travel to Philippines of course you have a rich country to discover in terms of opportunities to visit, so we really have a very strong expectations also of traffic from France and bit also the rest of Europe, also the other Europe markets

AMB. FONTANEL: Maybe to complement on that, the framework is that the relationship between France and the Philippines is growing and we intend to put the bilateral relationship on a more political and strategic level. So it goes also with the fact that both presidents, President Marcos and President Macron decided really to intensify and strengthen our ties. And on the tourism sector, yes, definitely there would be an interest from my compatriots to watch your country which is so beautiful and so much to visit that when you start looking, you just want to come here. But it’s true at the same time, the fact that there was no direct flight so far is really a barrier.

And for European tourists, French tourists, you look at the map of Southeast Asia and you choose also your destination by the fact that there is no direct flight. And just so because we look at the market indeed before getting into this process and we saw for example, that the UK, which was the last direct destination, that the flight was tough. Just like after COVID, two or three years ago and the number of UK tourists in the Philippines is really more important than other European tourists, and it cannot just be explained by the fact that they are British, and that’s we are European countries; it’s really directly linked to the direct flight.

So we do hope that this direct flight will open up from many, many more tourists of Europe, but particularly my country, but only to make the choice of the Philippines.

MAYRINA/GMA7: Just one quick clarification, Madame Ambassador, you said 37,000 visas – issued or applications received?

AMB. FONTANEL: Issued last year, 2o23.

MAYRINA/GMA7: And maybe I should also ask how hard is it to get a French visa?

AMB. FONTANEL: Try! Give it a try!

MAYRINA/GMA7: Asking for a friend.

AMB. FONTANEL: You have to plan in advance – that would be my only recommendation – you have to take a long time before applying. We opened last year. Maybe, you remember two new visa centers for application, one in Manila, one in Cebu TLS and they offer a real, comprehensive event of services to make the journey throughout French a good journey starting from the visa application. So you could have a good experience in TLS, they are really welcoming in about different types of services. Even if you apply anywhere service, if you cannot go to TLS, they can come to you but then, considering the high number of applications that we received, there is still a delay.

Usually, we try to maintain the delay below one month but I have to say that right now, which is starting off in a very intensive period of time, it’s six weeks for example, so my only advice is to plan in advance to get the better fare of the plane and to get a visa on time.

MEDENILLA/BMIRROR: For Secretary Bautista. As part of the direct flight agreement with French will local carriers be also allowed to fly to Paris?

DOTR SEC. BAUTISTA: Actually, we have an air service agreement with France. They also allow foreign carriers to operate to Paris or to other cities of France.  In the past, Philippine Airlines used to fly also to Paris. That was many, many years ago. I remember the flight stops in two cities before reaching Paris. Now, it’s very different, the airplanes are more modern, they can fly long haul, we call this long-haul aircraft, so that is why it’s a non-stop flight from France to Manila. But, yes, we have landing rights with France.

MEDENILLA/BMIRROR: And aside from France, is DOTR also considers signing similar direct flight agreements with other European countries?

DOTR SEC. BAUTISTA: Actually, we have air services agreements with many European countries. We have an air service agreement with–even EU actually. We have an open skies agreement with EU, which we signed two years ago in Bali. This is ASEAN-EU open skies agreement.

DOMINGO/ABS-CBN: Good afternoon again. All three officials have been quite consistent in saying that it will be a challenge to make this direct flight between Manila and Paris a success. What glaring hurdles are you seeing right now and how do you intend to resolve them in the near future?

DOTR SEC. BAUTISTA: Actually, we have already approved it, after facing all the challenges. One of the major challenges that we experienced in having this, is the slot availability. Because you know, MIAA or NAIA is a very congested airport, but we were able to find a slot. Because Air France should leave sometime between 9:50 to 10:30, for it to be able to arrive in Paris early in the morning, and I think, that’s what Air France wants and they don’t want to stay much, much longer here in Manila. Because I understand that the airplane arrives at 7:30 in the evening and it cannot leave immediately, because the airport in Paris is still closed, that is why it has to leave between 9:50 to 10:30. So, that is one that we were able to solve.

AIR FRANCE-KLM GM FEMKE KROESE: And what is quite important in the early arrival also in Paris is to ensure that we have all the connections to the other destinations. Everything like the seafarers, the marine and offshore segments, there’s quite some demands also to enter in the UK, Northern Europe, Central and South America, so we want to make sure that from Paris. Also, the connectivity is good and Filipinos can also connect to the other destinations from Paris Airports.

AMB. FONTANEL:  Maybe to address, because the question was further the [unclear]. When we look, we know the long way that had to be overcome to arrive here today, so when we see all the steps that we have to solve, it gives us confidence that the following steps will be also solve in the future. But I think, it’s like, I don’t want to talk in the issues of private sector companies, but commercial issues are always a question of competition and the success is never reached in advance, right? Otherwise, there wouldn’t be any difficult investment to be made. So, the fact that we are cautious and that we know that we will have to overlook the implementation of the direct flight is just a precaution to be sure that it will be a huge success what we really do think, and it is already a greater achievement why we are here today.

AIR FRANCE-KLM GM FEMKE KROESE: Of course, connectivity is very important. The period is quite sure as well, we will have our first flight departing from Manila the 8th of December, so the booking windows is relatively short, so that makes it a little bit more challenging. We also know that the market is a bit more late booking, so we indeed do have confidence that this will be a success, that combined with the non-stop service and having the connectivity to go to the destination going to Paris, there is quite some potential for these flights.

Q:  Special perks for the maiden flight?

AIR FRANCE-KLM GM FEMKE KROESE: For the inaugural flights, we will come back on that.

DOTR SEC. BAUTISTA: Actually, one of the challenges is for us to be able to finish all the requirements. You know that there are documentary requirements that government agencies need. For one, there is a requirement for SEC registration, there is a requirement for CAB hearing and we tried our best to complete all these, so that Air France can make this announcement early, so that they can also sell the tickets as mentioned by Miss Kroese. The market usually buys ticket in advance and with the earliest announcement, Air France will be able to sell more seats before Christmas.

AIR FRANCE-KLM GM FEMKE KROESE: So, we will be launching this afternoon in the system. So, you are having the first announcement, we will be launching off later this afternoon.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Well, I think we have explained a lot of great news today. Thank you so much for choosing to announce this great news of direct flight between Paris and Manila here in front of the Malacañang Press Corps. Of course, this is great news not just for travelers, but also for the relationship between the Philippines and France and for the rest of the EU, and other possibilities that it brings for not just tourism, but of course trade as well.

So, thank you again, Secretary Bautista, Ambassador Fontanel and Miss Kroese. And thank you, Malacañang Press Corps. This concludes our Press Briefing.

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