MANILA, Philippines — Aviation officials have declared Ninoy Aquino International Airport open to partial operations after the country’s main gateway was shut down due to the risks posed to planes by Taal Volcano ash explosion.
The partial resumption of operations for departures and arrivals began 10 a.m. and 12 noon, respectively, the Manila International Airport Authority and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines announced.
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Priority will be given to departure flights so the NAIA ramps may be cleared of planes parked there since Sunday night, while second priority will be given to regular scheduled flights for today.
The partial operations, however, will be subject to terminal capacity of the four NAIA terminals and to airline consent.
“Under the situation, separation time between flights will be longer, in order to give MIAA and CAAP better capability to manage terminal and runway capacities,” aviation authorities said.
Airline operators were asked to submit their flight cancellations for Monday to give the slotting committee more room to allocate slots to airlines wishing to mount recovery flights.
Ed Monreal, MIAA general manager, appealed to passengers to “make sure their flights can leave before proceeding to the airport.”
Clearing of NAIA’s runways, taxiways and ramps of ashfall is still being carried out.
The restive Taal remains under Alert Level 4, which means that “hazardous explosive eruption is possible within hours to days.”
A magmatic eruption was recorded in Taal Volcano from 2:49 a.m. to 4:28 a.m. A magmatic eruption is characterized by weak lava fountain accompanied by thunder and flashes of lightning.
Taal’s last eruption was in 1977.