MANILA - An international flight and five domestic flights bound for Manila were diverted to the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) in Pampanga due to poor visibility while four flights have been cancelled due to bad weather.
Connie Bungag, media affairs chief of Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), said the six flights were diverted to DMIA in Clark, Pampanga because of poor visibility at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Pasay City.
The diverted flights include a flight of Singapore Airlines, two flights of Air Philippines Express, two from Philippine Airlines, and a flight of Southeast Asian Airlines.
Cebu Pacific Airlines, meanwhile, announced the cancellation of four of its flights on Sunday due to bad weather.
Cancelled were Cebu Pacific flights 5J-903 and 5J-904 both from Caticlan in Aklan and flight 5J-515 from San Jose, Occidental Mindoro and its return trip 5J-516. The said flights were supposed to have arrived in Manila late afternoon Sunday.
Manila to Cotabato flights of Cebu Pacific also experienced some delays due to bad weather in the capital and the delayed arrival of its return trip.
Also on Sunday, an ATR 72-500 aircraft of Cebu Pacific made a priority landing at the NAIA Terminal 3 after it experienced a landing gear problem.
The MIAA said in an advisory at 6:30 p.m. that the Cebu Pacific flight 5J-509 landed safely at 4 p.m. All 72 passengers and four flight crew were all safe, the advisory said.
Airport authorities said the aircraft was ferried to the Cebu Pacific hangar for repairs.
"The aircraft needs extended maintenance so we have had to make some cancellations. Passengers are being re-accommodated on extra flights," Candice Iyog, Cebu Pacific vice president for distribution and marketing, told Sun.Star in a text message.
Meanwhile, Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said in its 5 p.m. weather bulletin that Metro Manila would continue to experience cloudy skies with rains and thunderstorms as an active low pressure area (Alpa) was spotted at 2 p.m. on Sunday, 30 kilometers southeast of Baler, Aurora.
But Pagasa director Prisco Nilo said the Alpa will only develop into a storm after it crosses Luzon.
Last week, around 160 domestic and international flights were sidelined due to the onslaught of Typhoon Basyang (international name: Conson) in Metro Manila and nearby provinces. (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)