GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / 13 January) — Ten flights from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to this city and vice versa were cancelled Monday due to the eruption of Taal Volcano in the main island of Luzon Sunday afternoon, an official said.
Edgardo Cueto, manager of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) here, said five inbound flights have been scrapped as of 3:30 p.m. — four by Cebu Pacific Air and one by Philippine Airlines.
As a result, Cueto said the five outbound flights of the same airlines were subsequently cancelled.
“That’s a total of around 1,300 passengers affected for the 10 cancelled flights,” he said.
Cueto said most passengers of the five scheduled flights to Manila still proceeded to the city international airport despite announcements regarding the cancellations.
He said airline and airport personnel just advised them to go home and re-book their flights to later dates.
As of 3:30 p.m., the airport has not served any inbound flight from Manila and they were still waiting for advice from their central office as to status of the other flights.
The city airport serves at least seven non-stop or direct flights daily to Manila and one each to Cebu and Iloilo.
CAAP put on hold all inbound and outbound flights at the NAIA starting past 6 p.m Sunday as ashfall from Taal Volcano reached parts of Metro Manila, including the airport’s runway and ramps.
It resumed the departures at NAIA starting 10 a.m. Monday and the arrivals at 12 noon.
Cueto said the other flights between the city and Manila were expected to resume due to the reopening of NAIA.
“If there will be no major eruption by the (Taal) Volcano in the new few hours, the flight operations will return to normal,” he said. (MindaNews)