MANILA -- An advisory from the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) said that operations went back to normal by 1 p.m. and 15 flights have returned to Manila due to improved visibility before noon time.
NAIA said no flights have been diverted or cancelled Saturday afternoon after the visibility in the runways of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) improved to five kilometers.
Sun.Star tried to contact MIAA General Manager Melvin Matibag for comment but to no avail.
The poor visibility early Saturday prompted at least 22 flights -- four international and 18 domestic -- to divert to Pampanga while two flights from Philippine Airlines landed in Cebu and another one in IloIlo.
Leading budget airline Cebu Pacific, on the other hand, have four domestic flights affected by the thick haze.
“We have four flights affected, two are from Caticlan, one from Catarman and one from Naga. These are small planes, ATR 72 model. Our bigger planes like Airbus 319 and 320 have landed safely in Manila because these are planes that can withstand Saturday’s poor visibility,” Candice Iyog, VP for Distribution and Marketing of Cebu Pacific, told Sun.Star in a text message.
Aside from Cebu Pacific, the MIAA said the diverted flights in Pampanga include 11 PAL flights, one Royal Brunei flight, two Jetstar flights, two Air Philippines flights, four Zestair flights, one KLM flight, one Seair flight, two China Air flights, and one from Air Micronesia. (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)