NAIA runway repair delays international flights

MANILA, Philippines - Several flights were delayed yesterday due to the six-hour closure of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to complete maintenance repairs on the runway of the country’s busiest international gateway.

Some eight international flights were diverted to Clark International Airport (CIA) after runway 06-24 of NAIA was closed. 

There were, however, no reported cancellation of flights.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) issued notice to airmen (NOTAM) partially closing NAIA 06/24 from midnight to 5 a.m. yesterday due to the runway maintenance repair.

“The procedure is for de-rubberizing and emergency pavement repair on portion of runway 06/24 between taxiway H2 and E4, forcing us to divert flights that were supposed to arrive past midnight on Saturday,” CAAP said in an advisory.

CAAP also said no domestic flights were affected since smaller aircraft like propeller turbo prop and Airbus 320 jet engine can land and take off at domestic runway 13-31.

The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) issued a separate announcement that the operations at NAIA Terminal 3 would not allow aircraft landing from midnight to 5 a.m. yesterday to make way for urgent runway repairs.

A total of eight flights were diverted to Clark, including five of Philippine Airlines and three of Cebu Pacific.

Etihad Airways flight EY421 bound for Abu Dhabi that was supposed to leave at 1 a.m. yesterday was allowed to depart four hours later.

Runway upgrade project

After two failed biddings, the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) is set to negotiate a P67-million contract for the NAIA runway optimization project that includes increasing runway movements, improving slot schedules, adding infrastructure and upgrading technology.

NAIA exceeded the design capacity of 30 million passengers per year as the four terminals handled 32 million passengers in 2012 amid the surge in tourist arrivals.

The DOTC believes the perpendicular runway design – primary runway 06/24 and secondary runway 13/31 – has made NAIA a highly congested airport. Aircraft movements went up to a high of 255,000 in 2011 amid the rise in passenger and aircraft activity.

DOTC Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said three companies – US-based Mitre Corp., NATS Ltd. of the United Kingdom and Copenhagen Airport of Germany – have expressed interest in the consultancy contract for the NAIA runway optimization project.

Abaya is also pushing for the construction of a new 2.1-kilometer runway worth P2.4 billion parallel to the existing primary runway 06/24.

Last Wednesday, the Daniel Romualdez airport in Tacloban City was closed for runway repairs. It reopened last Thursday but operations would be limited to turbo propeller aircraft until Dec. 3.