Philippines: Down The Permit Rabbit Hole

Key Points

• Charter/Non-Sched/Pt135 landings in the Philippines need a Foreign Air Operator Certificate (FAOC). 
• It’s a bit of a pain to get one. Takes 2-3 weeks, but local agents can help get a landing permit while the FAOC is in process.
• Read below for the latest on all Philippines Permits

A Cautionary Tale

An OPSGROUP member recently reported the following:

• To operate non-scheduled air services into the Philippines we were told that we need a Foreign Air Operators Certificate.
• We were also asked to supply an ICAO Airline Three letter code. This is not something as a non-scheduled operator that we believe we can get!
• We used a local agent as our Third Party. They supplied the FAOC application form.
• We were successful in getting a one-off permit, however we still had to complete everything in the application form.
• We haven’t determined if what we have submitted now as a one-off will be sufficient for the entire FAOC application – we’ll find out soon…

The Application Form

You can download it here:

What are the Philippines Permit Requirements?

Here’s some utterly useless official stuff to “help” start you on your journey.

The Philippines AIP

Requires a log-in. Don’t have one, and can’t get one. Website doesn’t even load most days.

I sent them an email and got a reply saying that even if you have a login, the site doesn’t actually have the eAIP on it. But if you would like to pay them $324 USD each year, they can send you a hard copy.

Nope.

Philippines CAA Website

Searched for “eAIP”. Nothing found. Moved on.

GEN 1.2

Backdoor access achieved via the EAD website! We have found the elusive AIP GEN 1.2!

But wait… it’s dated 2011, and is an enraging mix of INCORRECT INFO and NOTHINGY PAP.

The quest continues…

Ask An Expert

We asked Jeff at Airmach Aviation for help – a local agent in the Philippines who knows all the answers:

• All flights need a permit. Landings, overflights, private, charter, scheduled, weird non-standard airworthiness… whatever you’re doing, if you enter Philippines airspace, you need a permit.
• You’ll want to use an agent here, as Navigation Fees and CAA fees must be paid prior to getting any permit.
• Permit approvals take anywhere between 48-72 hours.
• They require the routing you’ll use to calculate the navigation fees.
• Permit fees can add up, especially for Charter flights as there are different permits you need to get – one from CAAP (the CAA) and another from CAB ( Civil Aeronautics Board).
• Scheduled and Charter landings will need a Foreign Air Operator Certificate.

OPSGROUP members can access all this info via the Permit Helper app on the Dashboard. This tool has permit info for every country in the world – what’s required, and who to contact to get your permit.

Tell me about the Foreign Air Operator Certificate one more time

• This is required for Non-Scheduled (i.e. Charter/Pt135 landings) as well as Scheduled (i.e. Airline) flights landing in the Philippines.
• The application form is here.
• Download it, fill it in, gather together the required docs listed in the form, and ask a local agent in the Philippines to get it for you. We recommend Airmach Aviation. Other agents are out there.
• Yes, you could try going direct to the authorities instead (CAAP: odg@caap.gov.ph). We once knew some people who tried. Their bodies have never been found.

Have you been through this FAOC process? Got any extra tips to share? Or maybe you’ve operated a flight to the Philippines recently and have some stories to share?  Let us know!

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