By Ebi Kesiena
Thousands of travelers were stranded at Philippine airports on Sunday after a “loss of communication” at the country’s busiest hub in Manila forced hundreds of flights to be cancelled, delayed or diverted.
Aviation authorities detected in the morning a “technical issue” involving the air traffic management centre at Manila’s domestic and international airport.
It came as many people began returning to the capital for work and school after the Christmas and New Year break.
There were chaotic scenes at check-in counters across the country as thousands of people tried to re-book tickets or find when their flight might take off. Others who had boarded their aircraft before the glitch was announced waited for hours and then were deplaned.
Airport officials did not specify the cause of the problem, but budget carrier Cebu Pacific said in an advisory it was due to a “power outage and loss of communication”.
“The flight delays and diversions are only precautionary measures to ensure the safety of passengers, crew, and aircraft,” the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said.
More than 280 flights in and out of Manila were cancelled, diverted or delayed, affecting around 56,000 passengers.
Stranded travellers expressed outrage and annoyance over the malfunction and lack of information given by airport staff.
A woman who was supposed to fly to Singapore said she spent several hours sitting in the plane on the tarmac. She and her fellow passengers were eventually deplaned and offered hotel rooms.
“We were told it was a complete failure of radio comms at air traffic control,” she told AFP.
