News update Flights canceled, diverted due to 'Basyang'

Worsening weather conditions over Luzon have forced several airlines to either cancel or divert several international and domestic flights headed for the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Manila.

A total of four international flights of Cebu Pacific Airlines (Hong Kong-Manila), Cathay Pacific Airlines (Hong Kong-Manila), and Gulf Air (Bahrain-Manila) were diverted, said Connie Bungag, Media Affairs Division chief of the Manila International Airport Authority.

Candice Iyog, vice president for marketing of the Cebu Pacific Airlines, said three of their domestic flights from Roxas City in Capiz, Caticlan in Aklan, and Cagayan de Oro City were likewise diverted.

All flights were diverted to the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark Field Pampanga.

Several flights — "not more than five" — bound for Manila were also cancelled due to the weather disturbance, she said.

Cabu Pacific canceled its flights to Naga City in Camarines Sur and Legazpi City in Albay. Airphil Express and Zest Air canceled their respective flights to and from Naga City and Legazpi City.

Bungag assured the public that the NAIA's Doppler-Very High Frequency Omni-Directional Radio Range (DVOR), which malfunctioned last month, has been up and running since last week.

"But they [flights] were diverted due to poor visibility dahil maulan at may bagyo. From up there, hindi makita masyado ng piloto ang runway," she said in a radio dzBB interview.

(The flights were diverted due to poor visibility because of the rain and the typhoon. The pilots were unable to see the runway very clearly from up there.)

Flight diversions are expected to cause delay in succeeding flights "pero hindi naman po ganoon karami [but it won’t be that many flights]," Bungag said.

As of 11 a.m., Typhoon Basyang intensified further as it headed toward the northern Quezon-Aurora area, where it will make landfall Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning.

Basyang is expected to hit central Luzon, and intensify the southwest monsoon, bringing rains to southern Luzon as well.

Just two weekends ago, a slew of flight diversions also plagued the NAIA not due to heavy rains but to thick haze that enveloped the airport. They were diverted to several airports including those in Pampanga, Cebu, and Iloilo.

Flight operations at the NAIA went back to normal later that day when the haze, commonly the result of air pollution, finally dissipated.

Weeks before that, the DVOR malfunction caused 50 flight cancelations.

A VOR is a piece of navigational equipment that directs aircraft to the runway especially during periods of poor visibility.

The breakdown prompted NAIA officials to temporarily borrow the DVOR of the Subic International Airport. — RJAB Jr./RSJ