A power outage at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in the Philippine capital, Manila, on New Year’s Day affected many airline services.
With more than 350 flights affected, officials are trying hard to resume full service.
In this case, a large crowd was seen in all the four terminals of the airport yesterday.
Many were waiting in long queues to change travel dates; Exhausted people lay down on seats or on the bare ground.
“We are very tired because we have been waiting for the past 24 hours. Our whole body hurts,” said Kirana Mangabong, 32, a foreign worker.
Manila International Airport Authority chief manager Cesar Cheong said the airport is currently handling a maximum of 15 flights, while it normally handles 20 flights per hour.
He mentioned that the unexpected situation was caused by a fault in the primary and secondary power distribution systems. “It may take almost 72 hours for flight services to return to normal,” he said.
In this case, Philippine Transport Minister Jaime Bautista has apologized for the inconvenience caused to passengers.
He said communication and internet services were cut off due to power outages.
“This is the problem with the air traffic control system. Compared to Singapore, we are ten years behind,” the minister said, adding that it needs to be improved immediately.
Yesterday, 361 flights at Manila Airport were canceled or diverted to other airports in the area due to a sudden power outage.
இதனால் ஏறக்குறைய 65,000 பயணிகள் பாதிக்கப்பட்டனர்.