NAIA runway closure cancels, delays flights
Several flights at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) yesterday were either delayed or cancelled after the Xiamen Airline flight MF8667 carrying 157 passengers and cabin crew skidded off at the runway of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) before Friday midnight.
Avigael Maningo, head of the corporate affairs and branding department of GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corporation (GMCAC) of MCIA, in an advisory released at 11:40 a.m., said at least five domestic flights going to and from Cebu and Manila were delayed.
Another two domestic flights of the same destination mentioned were also cancelled.
She added that at least two international flights from Vancouver, Canada and San Francisco, California that are supposed to arrive in Manila were diverted to MCIA.
With this, GMCAC advised the passengers to contact their respective airlines to check the status of their flights before going to MCIA.
“Passengers traveling to Manila are advised to get in touch with their respective airlines before going to Mactan-Cebu International Airport. Other flights from and to MCIA that are bound for other local and international destinations remain unaffected,” the advisory said.
While the airline companies have addressed each of their situations, Maningo, however, said that the operations at MCIA have remained normal.
The passengers and crew who boarded the Chinese carrier were immediately evacuated and are now safe, as they were transported to a nearby hotel until the operations of Xiamen Air will be back to normal.
The said carrier reportedly slipped off the runway due to bad weather.
Based on a report from The Philippine Star, the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) is set to re-open the runway at 7 p.m. (Friday)
Based on the records of MIAA, five flights at terminal were cancelled due to the incident.
Another eight domestic and international flights at Terminal 2 were also cancelled.
At Terminal 3, 16 domestic and international flights of Cebu Pacific Air and Cathay Pacific were also cancelled.
As of yesterday, seven international flights of the Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific that were supposed to land in Manila were diverted to either Clark or Cebu.