31 flights delayed as power outage hits NAIA Terminal 3

FILE: Passengers waiting to board their flight in NAIA Terminal 3. (PCI photo)

MANILA – The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) on Saturday apologized for the power outage at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3, causing the delay of at least 31 flights.

The power outage began at around 11 p.m. Friday and lasted until early Saturday, resulting in the disruption of operations, manual check-in and loading of baggage, and longer processing at immigration counters, the MIAA said in a statement.

“As of 6 a.m. today (Saturday), the electric power in all areas of the Terminal has been restored,” the MIAA statement read.

A probe by MIAA and Manila Electric Company traced the problem to the terminal’s power substation.

Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista and MIAA General Manager Cesar Chiong were also at the airport to look into the matter.

MIAA said “action is now being undertaken to prevent recurrence of the incident” that delayed the following flights:

5J 951 Manila-Davao
5J 473 Manila-Bacolod
5J 381 Manila-Cagayan
5J 635 Manila-Puerto Princesa
5J 961 Manila-Davao
5J 991 Manila-General Santos
5J 451 Manila-Iloilo
5J 551 Manila-Cebu
5J 651 Manila-Tacloban
5J 357 Manila-Roxas
5J 481 Manila-Bacolod
5J 851 Manila-Zamboanga
5J 2506 Cebu-Manila
5J 3966 Davao-Manila
TK 265 Cebu-Manila
EK 335 Manila-Dubai
QR 929 Manila-Doha
Z2 942 Manila-Kuala Lumpur
TK 265 Manila-Istanbul
5J 929 Manila-Bangkok
5J 813 Manila-Singapore
SQ 915 Manila-Singapore
EK 337 Manila-Dubai
5J 5038 Manila-Nagoya
5J 827 Osaka-Manila
Z2 232 Denpasar-Manila
5J 502 Kuala Lumpur-Manila
5J 804 Singapore-Manila
SQ 918 Singapore-Manila
EK 336 Dubai-Manila

In an advisory, low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific announced that as it recovers from the power outage, the airline had to cancel eight flights: 5J 57/574 Manila-Cebu-Manila; 5J 919/920 Manila-Caticlan-Manila; 5J 272/273 Manila-Hong Kong-Manila; and 5J 279/280 Manila-Bali-Manila.

Affected passengers were rebooked to the next available flights within the next 24 hours.