ALL international and domestic flights to and from the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) may be fully operational by Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022.
This was what Julius “Jayjay” Neri Jr., general manager of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA), told SunStar Cebu Monday afternoon, Oct. 24, following the suspension of all flights to and from the airport after Korean Air flight KE631 from Incheon, South Korea overshot the runway as it landed amid heavy rains at 11:11 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 23.
However, the airport temporarily opened its runway from 4 to 6 p.m. on Monday to allow hundreds of passengers who were stranded at the airport following the suspension of flights to depart Cebu, the MCIAA said in a statement later in the afternoon.
The MCIAA said it had coordinated with the Department of Transportation, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap), and airport operator GMR Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. for the temporary opening for the runway operations Monday afternoon.
It said airlines for departures were earlier advised to contact their passengers for the necessary pre-departure and check-in procedures.
Timetable
In an interview early afternoon of Monday, Neri said they would try to move the aircraft to a safer place by Tuesday, Oct. 25, adding that equipment such as cranes from Cebu were on their way to the airport as of 3 p.m.
He stressed, though, that they could not ensure the aircraft’s removal until they actually did it since they still had no idea how difficult it would be considering that the area was muddy and that it might rain again on Tuesday.
“There are many factors, but the timetable is to be able to at least partially open the airport tomorrow (Tuesday) and... by Wednesday, be fully operational again. That’s the goal, but we still can’t be sure,” he said.
With the obstruction of the runway, Neri said they could not allow any plane to land or take off, but he stressed that they were getting approvals from the Caap to allow around six airplanes that had been stranded at the airport to take off within Monday, Oct. 24.
This, as he noted that the stranded passengers were just waiting outside the airport.
He added that their goal was to partially open the runway first by allowing smaller planes to use the portion away from the stricken aircraft, but all has to be coordinated.
Neri said the aircraft did not directly obstruct the runway but stressed that there are standards that they need to meet, such as how far or high an obstacle is from the runway.
Rescue
What they did so far was to stop all operations and rescue the 173 passengers aboard. They also offloaded the luggage to make the plane lighter.
Neri said all the fuel was being siphoned out of the airplane to avoid danger during the rescue operation.
According to the Department of Tourism (DOT), 112 foreign nationals, 32 balikbayans and 18 overseas Filipinos were on the Korean Air flight.
“The DOT has been assured by Korean Air officials that all tourists involved in the incident have been accounted for and are currently billeted at a nearby hotel,” the DOT said in a statement Monday afternoon.
No injuries were reported among the 162 passengers and 11 crew members who escaped from the aircraft using emergency slides.
The DOT also said 530 stranded outbound international passengers had been accommodated in hotels shouldered by the concerned airlines. (With CLC, LMY)