EXACTLY five months after a massive glitch disrupted hundreds of flights and stranded over 60,000 passengers, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) again suffered another black eye as power was knocked out at its Terminal 3 an hour past midnight of Labor Day.
In a statement, Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) Spokesperson Ma. Consuelo Bungag said NAIA Terminal 3 experienced power outage at 1:05 a.m. and Terminal 3 switched to local power supply at 1:12 a.m.. At 8:54 a.m., the power supply was restored.
On New Year’s Day, a glitch in the power system at the whole NAIA complex disrupted air traffic control operations, shutting down the Philippines’s air space. Subsequent investigation conducted by both the Executive and Congress revealed gaps in the system that powers air traffic control, though other experts did not rule out a possible sabotage.
As for the May 1 power outage, Bungag said standby power is now supplying electricity to critical facilities enabling computer systems of airlines and Immigration to function partially and enable processing of both inbound and outbound passengers. As a result, however, delayed flights shall be expected.
MIAA operations personnel are now continuously doing the rounds of Terminal 3 to provide assistance to passengers and answer inquiries they might have.
The MIAA Engineering team together with MERALCO technical personnel are now looking into the cause of the power failure, she added.
The MIAA Management apologized to air travellers for the inconvenience that the situation may have brought to them.
Meanwhile, international travellers with flights today are advised to be early at the NAIA Terminal 3 as flight immigration formalities are expected to be slower due to the system’s downing.
Currently, power generators are being utilized to process flight procedures.
As of this posting, no flights from AirAsia, Cebu Pacific and other international airlines were delayed or cancelled due to the incident.
The MIAA voice and text hotlines may be reached through the following numbers:
Voice Hotline: 88771111
Text Hotline: 88396242
NAIA flight information numbers:
Terminal 1 (8771109 loc 765 and 2852)
Terminal 2 (8771109 loc 2882 and 2880)
Terminal 4 (8771109 loc 4226)
Terminal 3 (8777888 loc 8144 and 8146).
Image credits: Nonie Reyes