As the Philippine Embassy in Wellington and the Philippine Consulate General in Auckland continue to pursue priority collaborative efforts in facilitating closer air and people-to-people connectivity between the Philippines and New Zealand, Ambassador Virginia H. Benavidez and Honorary Consul General Paulo B. Garcia met with Philippine Airlines (PAL) officers, namely, Ms. Rebecca R. Recio, Manager, Revenue Planning and Admin-Intl, Revenue Management, Ms. T. Bettina Nisce, Manager, Revenue Management International, Revenue Management, Mr. Leonard Bryan Sansolis, Management Associate who are all based in Manila, Mr. Ian Robinson, Regional Manager-Australia & New Zealand based in Sydney, Mr. Peppy Purdomo, South East Asia/India Development Manager, Auckland Airport and Mr. Steve Rice, General Manager, Airline Marketing New Zealand Ltd at the Stamford Plaza Hotel in Auckland on 30 April 2015.

Ambassador Benavidez and Honorary Consul General Garcia shared with them the detailed profile and population of the Filipino community in New Zealand, Tonga, Fiji, Samoa and Cook Islands and other relevant matters relating to the employment, immigration status, contributions and increasing influx of Filipino workers, students, and professionals into New Zealand and the upward and active movements and visits of tourists, businessmen, ministerial and senior officials and other stakeholders from both countries. Discussions with PAL officials and Auckland Airport representative centered on pathways, arrangements and updates on developments relating to the possible establishment of direct air connections between the Philippines and New Zealand in the near future. Recent local and Philippine newspapers featured PAL’s plans to mount flights between Manila and Auckland this year as part of its international presence expansion.

“The establishment of direct air connectivity is a priority in our cooperation with New Zealand. As partners in the bilateral and regional arenas and given the increasing engagements with each other and the ASEAN region as well as the growing Filipino community and visitors exchange between the two countries, the Philippines and New Zealand are seeing very good opportunities and making things happen in the air services sector and are well poised to open more doors and reach new heights in our bilateral and regional relationships. The Philippines and New Zealand are one in the paramount importance of direct flights that would serve as key enablers to greater trade, investment, tourism, education, economic and people-to-people linkages and movement between our two countries.” Ambassador Benavidez stated.