The situation has been resolved as of this afternoon, but flights from and to the Manila airport are still affected.
On Monday, May 20, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said that it has identified a potential software issue in the flight radar system inside its Air Traffic Management Center (ATMC).
As a result, the aviation bureau implemented longer intervals of flights departing from Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
Within hours of the original advisory, CAAP said that the ATMC situation had been resolved as of 2:00 pm this afternoon.
However, due to the change in departure intervals, there have been flight delays and cancelations for some airlines.
Budget carrier Cebu Pacific, in its own advisory, announced the cancelation of some domestic and international flights.
- 5J 389/390 – Manila to Cagayan de Oro; Cagayan de Oro to Manila
- 5J 455/456 – Manila to Iloilo; Iloilo to Manila
- 5J 487/488 – Manila to Bacolod; Bacolod to Manila
- 5J 557/558 – Manila to Cebu; Cebu to Manila
- 5J 955/956 – Manila to Davao; Davao to Manila
- DG 6839/6840 – Manila to Siargao; Siargao to Manila
- 5J 647/648 – Manila to Puerto Princesa; Puerto Princesa to Manila
- 5J 651/652 – Manila to Tacloban; Tacloban to Manila
- 5J 746/747 – Manila to Hanoi; Hanoi to Manila
- 5J 759/760 – Manila to Jakarta; Jakarta to Manila
- 5J 773/774 – Manila to Pagadian; Pagadian to Manila
- 5J 915/916 – Clark to Boracay; Boracay to Clark
CEB says that they have also informed affected passengers via email and “provided with… options through the Manage Booking portal on the Cebu Pacific website.”
Meanwhile, flag carrier Philippine Airlines have also canceled some of their domestic flights due to the problem.
- PR 2135/2136 – Manila to Bacolod; Bacolod to Manila
- PR 2045/2046 – Manila to Caticlan; Caticlan to Manila
- PR 2043/2044 – Manila to Caticlan; Caticlan to Manila
- PR 2823/2824 – Manila to Davao; Davao to Manila
For the passengers of these canceled PAL flights, the airline has offered them three options.
First, is they can convert the ticket to Travel Credits — equivalent to the unused segment of the ticket and will be valid for 1 year.
Second, they can “rebook or reroute the ticket for another flight with available space within 60 days from the original flight in the same booking class or higher within the same cabin class.”
Finally, they can “refund [the] ticket without penalties, excluding the Ticketing Service Charge.”
To allow recovery flights to take place, Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) General Manager Eric Ines said that the NAIA runway will be open for 24 hours.