THE chief of the premier gateway on Tuesday warned commercial carriers not to arbitrarily delay or cancel flights in the wake of the 6.1-magnitude earthquake that damaged the Clark International Airport terminal building.
In a statement, Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) General Manager Ed Monreal warned airline companies “not to take advantage of yesterday’s [April 22] earthquake to arbitrarily delay or cancel flights.”
Airlines should not burden the public with the inconvenience that may result from the disruption of the passengers’ travel plans.
Monreal’s warning followed reports that Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific canceled outbound and inbound flights to and from Clark, where the terminal passenger was heavily damaged by the temblor.
Clark authorities said 104 flights were canceled on Tuesday, and 14 flights were canceled on Monday just after the earthquake.
Monreal said there was no damage to the Naia runway and taxiways, as well as the passenger terminal buildings.
He made the announcement after several teams fanned out to inspect “every nook and cranny” of the four terminals and found no damage whatsoever.
Monreal directed his operations team to admit flights that cannot be accommodated in Clark following SOPs (standard operating procedure) in slotting in coordination with the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap) for an orderly landing, parking and take-off.
Monreal said this will also allow them to properly assign the use of aerobridges, baggage carousels and check-in counters. He also strongly urged airlines to ensure the availability of shuttle buses to ferry passengers from Manila to Clark.
Monreal assured the public that “it is business as usual” for passengers using the Naia terminal, and there should be no cause for alarm following Monday’s earthquake.
Meanwhile, Philippine Airlines said its has canceled its flight to Clark from Manila and another flight from Davao to Clark.
The carrier advises affected passengers to rebook or reroute within 30 days from the original flight date.
Cebu Pacific (CEB) announced that flight 5J 538 (Singapore to Clark) was diverted to the Naia due to damage caused by the earthquake at the Clark airport.
The flight landed safely in Naia Terminal 3 at 8:15 p.m. on Monday. All the passengers were bussed to Clark.
CEB said in a statement that passengers on canceled flights at Clark may ride these buses to the Naia Terminal 3 and opt to fly out on Cebu Pacific flights from Manila.