8 August 2000The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) secretariat office has relocated to Kuala Lumpur after more than 30 years in Manila.
"We made that pivotal decision to relocate here because any member-funded association such as ourselves lives or dies by virtue of its effectiveness and value added for its members," said AAPA’s director-general Richard T Stirland.
Manila’s air access is poor compared with KL, Singapore and Hong Kong. And recent bombs in Manila and a separatist war in the southern Philippines have not helped highlight the destination’s finer points.
The choice of a new location for the secretariat was a toss between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. The latter was considered ideal as organisations such as the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the US Federal Aviation Authority have their regional headquarters there.
But factors such as cheaper operation costs, easy access to the region, a healthy aviation industry and efficient electronic communications tipped the balance for KL.
AAPA moved into its new office last June but only had its official opening yesterday. It is located on the 9th floor of Kompleks Antarabangsa at Jalan Sultan Ismail.
Tel: 60 3 245 5600
Fax: 60 3 245 2500