THE Manila International Airport Authority has said it is going against airlines that mounted make-up flights without proper authority at the height of the chaos in Ninoy Aquino International Airport caused by a recent accident involving a Chinese commuter jet.
A fine of P5,000 per passenger will be slapped against both local and international airlines who made “uncoordinated flights” to pick up stranded passengers a day after the Xiamen Air plane overshot the Naia main runway on Aug. 16, MIAA general manager Eddie Monreal said Thursday.
“We are after some 37 out of 78 local and foreign airlines that made the uncoordinated fights that created congestion at the Naia right after the incident,” said Monreal.
He said the unauthorized flights resulted in airport/runway congestion as ramp controllers at the Naia terminal 1 experienced difficulties relocating the aircraft while some of which stayed at the remote parking bay and even at the taxiway of the runway.
The airlines reportedly coordinated with the Civil Aviaition Authority of the Philippines but not with MIAA.
The uncoordinated flights also crammed passengers in departure halls and hampered the normalization of airport operations, MIAA said.
In related developments:
• The building of a new secondary parallel runway at Clark may be the immediate solution to absorb the adverse impact of emergency incidents at Naia, an executive of the Clark International Airport Corp. said on Wednesday after a public hearing conducted by the House Committee on Transportation on the Xiamen incident in Manila’s airport last month that affected close to 200,000 passengers.
“Clark needs a new secondary parallel runway positioned to allow simultaneous takeoffs and landings to easily decongest the overcrowded Naia pending the construction of proposed airports either in Bulacan or in Cavite,” Alexander Cauguiran, CIAC president, said.
• The Cebu Pacific Air has announced it is expanding its route network at the Clark International Airport, boosting frequency by 75 percent by the end of the year.
CEB will also increase its flight service between Clark and Macau from eight times weekly to 14 times a week.
Cebu Pacific will now fly once daily from Clark to Macau at 9:25 pm, with the return flight departing from the Macau International Airport at 12:15 am the following day.
The carrier had earlier announced it would also make an additional daily flight between Clark and Cebu starting Oct. 28, 2018; on top of two new routes—between its Clark and Davao hubs; as well as between Clark and Tagbilaran, Bohol, starting Nov. 9, 2018.
Authorities said the airlines that made uncoordinated flights included Xiamen Air, Asiana Airlines, Etihad Airlines, Eva Air, Gulf Air, Japan Airlines, Korean Airlines, Kuwait Airways, Malaysian Airlines, Qantas Airlines, Air Brunei, Philippine Airlines, Hongkong Airlines, Air China, Oman Air, Qatar Airways and Thai Airways.
Senator Nancy Binay said the entry of unauthorized flights was “highly suspicious and anomalous” and exposed weaknesses in the country’s airport protocols and the lack of coordination among government agencies and the airlines.
“The incident pointed to a string of inadequacies and glaring lapses on the part of airport authorities and airline operators, which has a potential implication on national security,” she said.
Binay called on agencies under the Department of Transportation to explain the mysterious circumstances surrounding the “uncoordinated” flights that added to the chaos at the airport.
She noted that even the Bureau of Immigration did not have enough personnel to handle diverted recovery flights in Clark International Airport prompting some airlines to return back to their original destinations after more than 10 hours of waiting at the tarmac.
The main runway closure on Aug. 16 affected at least 681 domestic and international flights and inconvenienced more than 136,000 passengers.
The main runway is used to accommodate all types of aircraft, while the secondary runway can only accommodate narrow-body aircraft.
The mishap had a domino effect across all four Naia terminals, causing flights to be diverted, delayed or canceled.
Meanwhile, the CAAP is hastening its Xiamen incident probe.
It earlier stated it will come out with a final report of the investigation aimed to determine what really transpired and the condition of the plane, as well as the pilots, minutes before the accident happened.
“We’re still waiting for some official documents from the Xiamen Air management like the records of the pilots and the Boeing 737-800 service records. Then we can release it [results] to the public,” said Eric Apolonio, CAAP chief information officer and spokesman.