The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) has announced the suspension of at least 17 international and 31 domestic flights scheduled on Saturday due to a global IT services blackout.
As of 9 a.m., the following flights have been canceled:
• Cebu Pacific (CEB) international flights to and from Incheon, Denpasar, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh, Taipei, Shanghai, Jakarta, and Hanoi, as well as domestic flights to and from Cebu, Puerto Princesa, Tacloban, Cagayan de Oro, Laoag, Iloilo, Butuan, Dipolog, Davao, and Caticlan
• CEB’s sister airline CebGo flights to and from Cebu and Legazpi
• AirAsia Philippines six local flights to and from Cebu, Iloilo, and Caticlan, along with United Airlines flight UA-190 from Manila to San Francisco
The airport management is working to address the global IT systems outage affecting several airlines in Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 and Terminal 2.
A number of other airlines, including Etihad, JejuAir, Jetstar Asia, Jetstar Japan, Scoot, and Hongkong Express, have also been affected.
Cebu Pacific and AirAsia have since issued statements acknowledging the technical issues and are working to restore full functionality to their systems.
Passengers are advised to prepare for potential long queues due to manual check-in processes, as well as asked to check their flight status with the respective airline before heading to the airport to avoid congestion at the terminal.
To alleviate passenger discomfort, MIAA General Manager Eric Jose Ines has deployed additional personnel and provided “Malasakit Kits,” including food snacks and bottled water, to affected individuals.
In addition, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) has confirmed that airports in Bicol and Davao were also affected.
The CAAP terminal operation team has been instructed to activate Medical Assistance and Malasakit Desks, the Police – Aviation Security Unit counter, and other measures to assist affected passengers.
