Night flight operations in Ilocos airport halted due to typhoon damage

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - Night flight operations in an international airport in northern Philippines have been suspended after its runway was partly damaged by tropical storm Fung-Wong (local name Mario), the state aviation agency said today.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said that it has informed the airline operators that arrival and departure of their aircraft were temporarily halted from sunset to sunrise at the Laoag International Airport in Ilocos Norte province.

It cited the breakdown of the airport's runway edge light after the heavy rains spawned by Fung-Wong inundated the runway, grounding electrical connections.

"Airlines are only allowed to operate during day time from 6 a. m. to 6 p.m. until the grounded portion of runway are fixed," CAAP said.

Technical personnel were already deployed in the area to fix the problem, it added.

As of Monday, Fung-Wong has left 11 people dead, 12 injured and two missing.

Of the 258,976 families affected in 1,126 villages in 27 provinces in northern part of the Philippines, including Metro Manila, 30,266 families or 129,676 individuals were being assisted at 324 evacuation centers.