CAAP: Provincial airports back to normal ops after AMTC power supply outage

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said Tuesday that normal operations have resumed at provincial airports affected by the power supply problem which closed the Philippine airspace on New Year’s Day.

The CAAP, on Monday, said that the power outage at its Air Traffic Management Center (ATMC) on Sunday was due to issues in the system’s electrical network.

The affected airports include the following:

•     Bicol International Airport
•     Tacloban Airport
•     Zamboanga Airport
•     Pagadian Airport
•     Dipolog Airport
•     Jolo Airport
•     Tawi-Tawi Airport
•     Laguindingan Airport
•     Camiguin Airport
•     Ozamiz Airport
•     Dumaguete Airport
•     Bohol-Panglao International Airport
•     Puerto Princesa International Airport
•     Tuguegarao Airport
•     Cauayan Airport
•     Basco Airport
•     Iloilo International Airport
•     Kalibo International Airport
•     Bacolod-Silay Airport
•     Roxas Airport

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•     Antique Airport
•     Butuan Airport
•     Siargao Airport
•     Surigao Airport
•     San Jose Airport
•     Romblon Airport
•     General Santos Airport
•     Cotabato Airport
•     Davao International Airport

“Recovery flights from diverted and delayed flights in these airports have been successfully dispatched to their location and mounted by the airlines on case to case basis,” the CAAP said.

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) on Tuesday said its regular published flight schedules would be restored by Wednesday, January 4.

“By tomorrow, we restore our regular published schedules,” PAL spokesperson Cielo Villaluna said in an interview on Dobol B TV.

The CAAP on Sunday recorded a technical issue at the ATMC, affecting some 56,000 passengers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. At least 282 flights were canceled, diverted, or delayed.

CAAP director general Manuel Tamayo said one of the uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) failed at around 9:50 a.m. on Sunday, and troubleshooting activities had to be done. Backup systems were not immediately available.

Once the system was reconnected to the power supply, however, warnings were released at around lunch time due to over voltage as 380 volts were coming in instead of 220 volts.

This then affected the very small aperture terminal (VSAT) which also had to be addressed. The system was partially restored at 4 p.m. on Sunday, and normal operations resumed at 5:50 p.m.

“Other passengers have been re-booked to other scheduled flights with the assistance of their airlines. The CAAP has been actively working on resuming normal operations and providing assistance to passengers affected by delayed flights for the past two days,” the CAAP said.

“The Authority apologizes for the inconvenience caused by the disruption of services and appreciate the patience and understanding of our passengers during this time,” it said.

The CAAP said it will continue to quickly work towards correcting and improving the air travel experience in the Philippines.

At least two resolutions have been filed in the Senate seeking an investigation into the power outage that closed the country's airspace on January 1.

A separate resolution is also set to be filed in the House of Representatives seeking a probe on the incident.—AOL, GMA Integrated News