Nearly 300 domestic and international flights at the Manila airport in the Philippines were delayed, canceled or diverted on Sunday, causing more than 65,000 passengers to suffer over the New Year holiday after a power outage hampered air traffic operations. .
The Secretary of Transportation, Jaime J. Bautista, in an evening press conference apologized for the inconvenience and said that the authorities are working to help all affected passengers.
Bautista said the problem started in the morning, when the Air Traffic Management Center, which oversees all flights in Philippine airspace, lost communication, radio, radar and internet due to the power outage.
The air traffic system was restored in the late afternoon and flights resumed at Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
Officials said they have asked airlines to fly more and upgrade to more wide-body planes to accommodate more passengers, with a full recovery expected after 72 hours.
Some travelers were outraged, including tycoon Manny Pangilinan, president of the telecommunications company PLDT, who said he was on his way to Manila from Tokyo when the blackout occurred.
“We have been told that the radar and navigation facilities at NAIA are down. I was on my way home from Tokyo, 3 hours after the flight, but I had to go back to Haneda. 6 hours of useless flight but the inconvenience for travelers and the losses for tourism and business are horrendous,” he tweeted.
