Filtered By: Topstories
News

NAIA: Regular flights to be prioritized, ‘recovering’ flights to wait until midnight


Flights scheduled to depart today, Saturday, are being prioritized, while "recovering" flights — or those that got delayed or rebooked after a Xiamen flight skidded off the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) runway — will have to wait until midnight before they can be accommodated.

Super Radyo dzBB's Mao dela Cruz quoted NAIA spokesperson Connie Bungag as saying that regular flights are the first ones being allowed to take off and land at the just reopened NAIA International Runway 06/24.

Bungag is also the chief of the Manila International Airport Authority media affairs division.

Recovering flights, meanwhile, can start using the runway from midnight Saturday to 6 a.m. of Sunday. Regular maintenance work on the runway would also be suspended to accomodate these flights.

Officials estimate it would take one and a half days before the size of the crowd goes back to normal.

"Ine-expect na po natin ang scheduled flights for today na aalis at darating as scheduled. At mamaya naman pong gabi, Saturday midnight until 6 a.m. tomorrow, tayo ay mag-aaccommodate ng recovery flights na naapektuhan nitong closure," she said.

Airport authorities also clarified that airlines will still have to apply for slots before they can use the runway anew.

Authorities said a total of 180 flights — 135 on Friday and 45 on Saturday — were canceled due to the closure.

The runway reopened at 11:28 p.m., after 36 hours of being closed and nine hours after the plane was removed from the runway.

Airport officials said the first plane to take off at the runway since it re-opened was for AirSWIFT Flight 0333 bound for El Nido, Palawan at 11:33, or just five minutes after the reopening.

A Philippine Airlines flight (PR 12610) flying in from Davao was next land at the NAIA runway at 11:34 p.m., or just a minute after the AirSWIFT flight took off.

Bungag appealed to airlines affected by the closure to closely coordinate with their respective passengers regarding updates and measures being taken due to the incident. — MDM, GMA News

LOADING CONTENT