Xiamen Air must pay P33 million to defray the cost of removing its airplane that veered off the runway of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Aug. 16 and caused bedlam, Manila International Airport Authority general manager Ed Monreal said Wednesday.
He told Senator Grace Poe, head of the Senate public services committee, that the airline must pay more than double the initial P15-million estimate of the damage it had cost.
“It will now be P33 million,” Monreal told Poe’s committee.
In other developments:
• The government is considering acquiring heavy equipment to address problems similar to what happened to the Xiamen aircraft, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said Wednesday.
The incident paralyzed airport and airline operations and brought confusion and inconvenience to passengers because it took aviation personnel 36 hours to remove the disabled plane.
• Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said Wednesday the government had no choice but to build a new main gateway to the country because of the increasing number of passengers using the airport in Manila.
He said the Naia’s passenger volume had doubled from 20.4 million in 2007 to 42 million last year.
When Poe asked when Xiamen Air would pay, Monreal said the Chinese airline would finally pay “next week.”
Poe also pressed Monreal if the charges could be higher if it could be proven that Xiamen Air’s pilots were responsible for the accident.
“Since the equipment are still being investigated in Singapore, and if we eventually find out that this is not force majeure, is it possible for Xiamen to pay higher charges because of pilot error?” Poe said.
Monreal said the Philippine government “may charge higher” than P33 million, but they could not charge the airline the impact on flight operations because it was consequential.
Testifying in the same hearing, Tugade said he wanted Xiamen Air to pay not just the actual cost of the damages but also the lost opportunities the incident caused to the airport.
“We will conduct a study to establish the cost that will be paid by Xiamen Air,” Monreal said.
MIAA, said a total of 631 flights were canceled from Aug. 17 to 20, leading to thousands of stranded passengers.
More than 61,000 passengers of Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific were affected by the mishap following the 36-hour closure of Naia Runway 06/24.Philippine Airlines said the entire runway fiasco cost it P50 million, with over 56,000 passengers inconvenienced due to canceled and diverted flights.
Cebu Pacific said 31,000 passengers were displaced “on canceled flights, not counting those on diverted flights or those severely delayed.”
Through an interpreter, Lou Husgun, general manager of Xiamen Air said: “once again, Xiamen Airlines would like to express our regret for the inconvenience suffered by those affected by this unfortunate incident.”
After the incident, he said, the airline immediately coordinated with the authorities in Manila and provided assistance to affected passengers.
“No passengers were injured, no cargoes were damaged or lost,” he said.
Xiamen Airlines, he said, also provided “full support and assistance” to the passengers who were stranded at the airport.
He said the airline had set up eight counters at the four terminals of Naia and provided free meals and water to stranded passengers.
As of Aug. 25, Huagun said, more than 71,000 meals and water had been given to passengers.
Joanna Lin, also of Xiamen Air, said they had provided hotel accommodation and food to their passengers. With Joel E. Zurbano