Bataan 1st district Rep. Geraldine Roman (Facebook)

Aviation authorities' planned closure of Philippine airspace for six hours in the morning of May 17 is a bad idea.

According to Bataan 1st district Rep. Geraldine Roman, the planned move of the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) could potentially change travelers' booking tendencies and impact the tourism industry.

This, as she noted that the closure would affect budget airlines' promotions, which offer cheaper fares during the late hours.

“Pinakamura ang tiket sa hatinggabi o madaling araw kaya ‘yan ang kinukuha kadalasan ng mga gustong mamasyal (Tickets are at their cheapest at midnight or before dawn, that's why those flights are popular with travel bugs)," she said in a statement Thursday, May 4.

"Isipin natin kung ano ang domino effect ng closure na ‘yan sa mga susunod na flights o kaparehong flights sa susunod na araw. Panahon ng turismo ang summer, sana maisip nila (Let’s think of the domino effect the closure will have on subsequent flights or similar flights the next day. Summer is peak season for tourism, hopefully they think of that)," underscored the chairperson of the House Committee on Women and Gender Equality.

MIAA, which operates the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) had previously announced the closure of local airspace from midnight to 6 a.m. on May 17 to pave the way for the installation of an uninterruptible power unit for the Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAAP) traffic monitoring activities.

“I’m sure marami tayong eksperto kaya puwedeng magawan ng paraan na hindi na maaapektuhan ang mga pasahero at airline companies sa pagkabit ng mga pasilidad na ‘yan (I'm sure we have a lot of experts who can do something so that our passengers won't get affected by the installation of that facility),” Roman said.

MIAA made the announcement on the heels of a power outage at NAIA on Monday, May 1, Labor Day. The outage lasted from 1 a.m. to 8 a.m., causing the delay and or the cancelation of dozens of flights.

A similar outage had also paralyzed NAIA, the country’s main gateway, last Jan. 1.

Roman said that such power outages, which caused inconvenience to passengers and disrupted airport operations, should not happen again.