NAIA equipment conks out, causes cancellation of flights

(Update 3 - 8:22 p.m.) At least 50 domestic and international flights were cancelled on Saturday after a navigational equipment at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) conked out, an aviation official said. NAIA’s Very High Frequency Omni-Directional Radio Range (VOR) — a device that directs aircrafts to the runway especially when there is poor visibility — broke down on Saturday morning, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) director-general Alfonso Cusi told GMANews.TV in a phone interview. The equipment breakdown caused three airlines to cancel some of their domestic and international flights scheduled for Saturday night.
Cebu Pacific marketing head Candace Iyog said in a Bombo Radyo report that the airline has cancelled the following domestic flight due to the technical problem in NAIA:

• 5J645, 646 Manila-Puerto Princesa-Manila
• 349, 350 Manila-Kalibo-Manila
• 657, 658 Manila-Tacloban-Manila
• 903, 904 Manila-Caticlan-Manila
• 457, 458, 459, 460 Manila-Iloilo-Manila
• 479, 480, 481, 482 Manila-Bacolod-Manila
• 579, 582, 576, 575, 569, 570 Manila-Cebu-Manila
• 657, 658 Manila-Tacloban-Manila
• 971, 970, 973, 974, 969, 972 Manila-Davao-Manila

The Philippine Airlines has also sent an advisory on the rescheduling of following international flights, which were originally set to land in NAIA before dawn on Sunday:

• PR105 - San Francisco-Manila
• PR103 - Los Angeles-Manila
• PR117 - Vancouver-Manila

Zest Air Philippines, meanwhile, has also cancelled nine of its flights. According to a report by Teresa Andrada aired over GMA News' "24 Oras," over 50 domestic and international flights have been cancelled so far. Despite the flight cancellations, Cusi assured that the equipment breakdown will only affect night time operations, and would only delay evening and early morning flights. Several flights scheduled for landing in NAIA on Saturday night have also been diverted to the airport in Subic, he added. Cusi likewise said that airport technicians are rushing to fix the problem, and the VOR is likely to be repaired by Sunday midnight. Last September, NAIA’s radar system likewise broke down, which caused around 50 flights to be cancelled, and hundreds of passengers stranded for almost three hours. (See: NAIA flights suspended due to radar breakdown)—With Mark D. Merueñas/JV, GMANews.TV