Philippines restores air traffic control after power outage
THE Philippines restored air traffic control operations after hundreds of flights were cancelled or diverted following technical issues that forced authorities to close the country’s airspace.
The Air Traffic Management Center (ATMC) at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport resumed normal operations on Sunday (Jan 1) following a power outage, the Department of Transportation said in a Facebook post. A problem with the power supply earlier in the day led to a “loss of communication, radio, radar, and Internet”, Philippine Transport Secretary Jaime Bautista said.
More than 280 local flights were either delayed, cancelled or diverted to other regional airports affecting around 56,000 passengers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila as at 4 pm local time (4 pm Singapore time). Normal operations resumed as at 5.50 pm, while equipment restoration is still ongoing, according to the Department of Transportation.
The ATMC controls all inbound and outbound flights and overflights within the Philippine airspace. Without their direction, pilots would be flying blind against other aircraft. There were no commercial flights in the Philippines earlier on Sunday, according to a tweet by Flightradar24, which tracks air traffic.
There were no immediate figures on the total number of affected flights that would have used the Philippine airspace, but a passenger on board a United Airlines plane to Singapore from San Francisco said it was diverted to Honolulu. A Scoot flight to Singapore from Narita airport was forced to return midway, according to passenger Jon Villanueva.
Eight flights bound for Manila, Cebu and other destinations in the Philippines had been rerouted to Hong Kong airport as at 6 pm local time (6 pm Singapore time), a spokesperson for the Hong Kong Airport Authority said.
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Flight departures and arrivals were rescheduled, and passengers were advised to await instructions from the airlines, the Philippine transport department said.
In response to queries from The Business Times, Singapore Airlines (SIA) confirmed that several of its flights have been affected by the closure of the Manila airspace over the Philippines.
As at 9 pm on Sunday, a total of 16 SIA flights had been affected.
“Some SIA flights have turned back to their points of departure – including Singapore Changi Airport – or are diverted to alternative airports, while other scheduled flights are currently grounded,” said an SIA spokesperson. “More flights may be affected over the course of the day.”
“SIA sincerely apologises to all affected customers for the inconvenience caused,” the spokesperson added. “The safety of our customers and crew is our top priority.”
BT has also reached out to Changi Airport Group for comment.
Video clips and photos posted on social media showed long queues at Manila airport, and airline personnel distributing food packs and drinks to stranded passengers.
“We’re told radar and navigation facilities at NAIA down. I was on my way home fm Tokyo – three hours into the flight, but had to return to Haneda,” tweeted passenger Manuel Pangilinan, chairman of Philippine telecommunications conglomerate PLDT. “Six hours of useless flying but inconvenience to travellers and losses to tourism and business are horrendous. Only in the PH. Sigh.”
Philippine carrier Cebu Pacific said there was a power outage at the Philippine Air Traffic Management Center.
In an advisory, the low-cost carrier said it was offering passengers of flights scheduled between Sunday and 0400 GMT (noon, Singapore time) on Jan 2 “flexible options”, including free rebooking and converting tickets into travel vouchers for future use.
Philippine Airlines said a number of flights were diverted, cancelled and delayed, advising travellers to check the status of their journey before proceeding to the airport.
“This is a temporary situation, and we will take all necessary steps to restore normal schedules and bring diverted flights back to their original destination as soon as possible,” Philippine Airlines said in a statement. BLOOMBERG, REUTERS
With additional reporting by Jude Chan
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