Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport has suffered a power outage earlier today, resulting in the cancellation of around 40 domestic flights.
The power outage impacted the airport’s Terminal 3 facility, and flights by the carrier Cebu Pacific were particularly affected. It is understood that power services were restored to Terminal 3 approximately two hours ago.
Terminal 3 power outage
In a statement posted to their social media channels earlier today, the airport authority stated that its Terminal 3 facility had experienced a power outage on or about 0105 local time today, Monday May 1.
The airport authority continued stating: “Standby power is now supplying electricity to critical facilities enabling computer systems of airlines and Immigration to function partially and enable processing of both inbound and outbound passengers. As a result, delayed flights shall be expected.”
According to their statement, the MIAA Engineering team together with MERALCO technical personnel are now looking into the cause of the power failure.
According to flight advisories issued by the airport, over 40 domestic flights operated by the carrier Cebu Pacific were cancelled due to the disruption.
The power outage and disruption at the airport facility comes as many Filipinos are returning home during the peak travel period.
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Last month’s airline relocations
The news of today’s Terminal 3 power outage comes in the wake of the airports reshuffle of airline occupancies last month.
Under the Schedule and Terminal Assignment Rationalization (STAR) program of the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), Jetstar Asia, Jetstar Japan, China Southern Airlines, Scoot, and Starlux Airlines recently relocated to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 on Sunday, April 16.
Philippine Airlines (PAL) flights to and from Singapore, Ho Chi Minh, Hanoi, and Phnom Penh likewise transferred smoothly to Terminal 1 on the same day.
Speaking on the transitioning of airlines between the terminal facilities last month, MIAA General Manager Cesar Chiong had stated:
“We are satisfied with how well these carriers transitioned. This is a result of our months of coordination with the airlines and ground handlers.”
He noted that only 2% of passengers were misrouted—28 in Terminal 1 and 43 in Terminal 2—while none were offloaded as a result of the terminal reassignment.
Further airline relocations
On June 1, Jeju Air, Ethiopian Airlines, Thai Airways and Gulf Air will transfer to the NAIA Terminal 3 facility, while Philippine Airlines will begin operating all their international flights in Terminal 1 come June 16.
For the third phase of the STAR program, all domestic flights of Philippines AirAsia and Royal Air Philippines will be operated from NAIA Terminal 2 starting July 1.
The aim of the reallocation undertaking is to optimize the capacity of the four NAIA terminals, with NAIA Terminal 2 becoming a purely domestic terminal, consistent with its intended design when it was built in the late 1990s.
The plan to use NAIA Terminal 2 for all domestic flights of Philippine Airlines, Philippines Air Asia, and Royal Air will come to fruition on July 1.
While MIAA works on further expanding the capacity of NAIA Terminal 2, the domestic operations of Cebu Pacific has remained in NAIA Terminals 3 and 4 for the meantime.
