SOME 600 passengers onboard Philippine Airlines flights bound for Manila from San Francisco and Vancouver were diverted to Cebu Friday morning.
Manila-bound flights from Cebu resumed by noon yesterday, said GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. (GMCAC).
Passengers of PR117 Vancouver-Manila and PR105 San Francisco-Manila were welcomed at Terminal 2 of Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) last Friday after PAL diverted their flights to Cebu while the major runway in Manila remained closed for clearing operations.
These two flights, however, departed Cebu past noon yesterday. PR117 was scheduled to arrive in Manila at 12:30 p.m and PR 105 was expected at 1:40 p.m., according to PAL.
While the passengers were stranded in Cebu, GMCAC in a statement said it worked with MCIAA “to make the unplanned delay as stress-free as possible for the passengers affected by the diversions by providing warm drinks, dental hygiene kits, 15-minute massage service, medical check-up, and entertainment from an acoustic singer.”
It added that PAL also ensured meals and snacks were distributed to their affected passengers.
Xiamen Air skidded of the international runway of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) last Thursday, resulting in a number of flight cancellations and diversions for both international and local flights.
NAIA reopened its international runway 06/24 shortly before noon yesterday, more than 24 hours after it was shut down due to a stalled aircraft.
Thousands of passengers packed the check-in area of NAIA Terminal 1 as flights were either cancelled or delayed since Saturday dawn because of the incident.
“All of the lines are intersecting. No one can figure out where to go,” said Paolo Bago, an eSports caster for ESPN who is on his way to Vancouver, Canada to cast for the Philippines in the DOTA esports championship tournament The International 2018.
He said the airlines nor the airport management have not sent them any updates on when their flights could leave. (Related story in Nation, A23.)
In a statement earlier Saturday, Manila International Airport Authority general manager Ed Monreal apologized to the passengers affected by the flight delays and cancellations.
He requested that various airlines to continuously inform their passengers of their revised flight schedules and make sure that their personnel are at hand to assist in attending to passenger concerns.
Adjustments
The airport may have reopened its international runway, but flight operations are still far from being normal.
Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) said it was still stabilizing flight operations as yesterday afternoon, as it announced the cancellation of three flights: PR1845/1846 Manila-Cebu-Manila; PR453/454 Manila-Gen.Santos-Manila; and PR408 Manila – Osaka Kansai.
Flights that were diverted to other airports since Friday were expected to proceed to the NAIA yesterday. A total of 19 flights were diverted to Clark, Mactan Cebu, Hong Kong, Saigon, Bangkok, Davao and Tokyo Haneda.
At the NAIA Terminal 1, passenger Paolo Bago said medics have been summoned at least twice after at least two persons collapsed either due to the overcrowding at the check-in area or the lack of food.
PAL handed out water bottles to its passengers, he said. Some passengers have been checked in, but could not leave the queue. KAT/MVI/SunStar Philippines)