By Ma. Cristina Arayata/Philippine News Agency
MANILA — Philippine Airlines (PAL), which uses the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 2, on Monday said President Rodrigo Duterte appeared to be satisfied with its actions to address passenger concerns amid the temporary halt of NAIA ramp operations due to lightning alert on Sunday night.
The President made a surprise inspection at NAIA Terminal 2 early Monday morning after hearing reports about flight delays and cancellations. He reportedly talked to airline and airport officials regarding the issue, and apologized to passengers for the inconvenience it has caused them.
According to PAL, Duterte talked to two of its airport officers, who explained to him that the delays in departure and deplaning of passengers were solely because of the red lightning alert issued by airport authorities on Sunday night.
From 6 p.m. to 9:14 p.m., the ramp movement for both the aircraft and ramp personnel was halted. Operations resumed at 9:15 p.m. as the red lightning alert was lowered to yellow lightning alert and was subsequently lifted at 9:45 p.m.
“President Duterte appeared to be generally satisfied on the actions taken by PAL Management to address the concerns of affected travelers,” the carrier said in a statement.
It added that passengers of cancelled flights were rebooked on next available flights and several transit, while elderly and PWD passengers were provided hotel accommodations. Passengers of arriving flights that were diverted to Clark International Airport were also provided land transfers to Manila.
The Civil Aeronautics Board requires airlines to complete the deplaning of domestic flights by the third hour and the deplaning of international flights by the fourth hour, but acknowledges the “no ground movement during terminal lightning alerts” policy for safety reasons.
PAL said it provided food and water, as far as practicable, to passengers who were not deplaned.
Meanwhile, the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) on Monday afternoon said that following Duterte’s visit, aviation and airport officials met to formulate a roadmap to achieve the President’s order to provide comfort for the riding public.
The red lightning alert on Sunday wasn’t the first time the glaring effect of flight delays and cancellations at NAIA was noticed.
Last June 4, the Philippine airspace was shut down for 30 minutes as the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines’s Air Traffic Management Center system encountered a glitch.
Within 30 minutes, the system was not functioning fully to guide the aircraft in and out of the Philippine airspace. CAAP spokesperson Eric Apolonio earlier told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) there were “blind spots” in the radar monitors.
He added that NAIA was the most affected during the glitch, as 81 flights were affected. The situation in other airports was manageable.
Earlier this month, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo reportedly complained about the delay on the retrieval of his baggage at NAIA.
Panelo apparently waited for two hours to retrieve his luggage because there was only one or two carousels functioning while there were four flights arriving simultaneously at the airport.
He also reportedly complained that the air condition at NAIA was not functioning.
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