Flights to, from Manila put on hold due to air navigation glitches; emergency protocols now in place
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) is now implementing emergency protocols at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) following what it describes as technical issues that forced flights to and from Manila to be put on hold on Sunday, Jan. 1.
In a statement, the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) said the technical issues were detected at the CAAP's Air Navigation Facilities.
"The CAAP is now putting in place emergency protocols to address the situation to enable flight operations to resume as soon as possible," the statement read.
The technical glitches came amid the expected increase in the arrival and departure for the Holiday season.
The MIAA said it expects flight delays due to the incident as the flight departures and arrivals will be retimed.
"In view of this, passengers were advised to await instructions or announcements from the airlines and stay inside the Terminals and approach the nearest airline or airport help desk for updates," the statement read.
Currently, MIAA and CAAP personnel are on alert and have been ordered to implement standard operating procedures to address the problempursuant to the MIAA Manual on Irregular Operations (MIAA-IROPS).
"The MIAA Crisis Management Team has been activated bringing together key aviation and airport agencies for a multi-discipline approach to cushion the impact of the incident.
"Airline operators on the other hand have initiated their respective contingency measures to mitigate the effect of the situation to their passengers. Rights of passengers under the Air Passenger Bill of Rights (APBR) shall be upheld under the circumstances," it added.
CAAP, MIAA and other government aviation officials are currently in a meeting to address the problem.