Damaged cable causes chaos at NAIA

MANILA, Philippines - A damaged fiber optic cable delayed several international flights at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 (NAIA-1) from the time it bogged down at 9 p.m. Sunday until it was replaced 14 hours later.

Airline personnel resorted to manually checking and processing the travel documents of at least 1,200 departing passengers while workers from the Philippine Long Distance Co. and the Societe Internationale de Telecommunications Aeronautiques (SITA) brought airline telecommunication services back online by noon yesterday.

SITA is a multinational information technology company specializing in providing IT and telecommunication services to the aviation industry.

NAIA-1 manager Octavio Lina said airline personnel processed the travelers’ papers within three hours.

Among the airlines that suffered one delayed flight each were Korean Airlines, Emirates, Singapore Airlines, Asiana Airlines for Korea, and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines for Amsterdam via Hong Kong. Cathay Pacific had three flights to the former Crown colony delayed by the cable trouble.

Arriving flights were not affected, according to Manila International Airport Authority general manager Alfonso Cusi.   – Rudy Santos