NAIA, Clark congestion causes 10-hour flight ordeal

MANILA, Philippines — A flight bound for the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 was diverted to the Clark International Airport on Friday due to airspace congestion, delaying disembarkation for ten hours.

Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines spokesperson Eric Apolonio confirmed Sunday that Etihad Airways flight EY424 from Abu Dhabi to Manila had 399 passengers aboard.

“This happened last Friday,” Apolonio said in a text message to Philstar.com.

Etihad, for its part, said that the diversion to Clark and the delayed landing were not due its own operational issues but to congestion at the two airports.

"The 10-hour delay in disembarking the aircaft—the result of terminal congestion at Clark International Airport, continuing airspace congestion at NAIA, and delays in the arrival of ground transportation," Etihad officials said in a statement.

Etihad officials, who earlier issued an apology to its passengers, also said the circumstance "was beyond the airline's control."

The airline assured that guests affected were provided with hotel accommodation, food and beverages, as well as flight rebooking option. Some stranded passengers were offered bus rides to Manila early Saturday morning while others decided to travel by land to Manila on their own.

On Friday, a netizen sought help from media outfits to inform them of the distressed Etihad Airways flight.

“Flight EY 424 Etihad airways from Abu Dhabi nasa Clark Airport pa din until now. Hindi sila ina-allow mag-land sa NAIA please help,” Twitter user Nowelyn said. She furthered that passengers were not informed of the reason of their disembarkation.

A passenger in Manila also lamented his long hours of travel and the airport woes.

“I did not take the bus that Etihad offered because it will drop me off [at] NAIA only. Guess I am not willing to see the airport in the near future. I asked Ryan to get me and bring me to the Dau bus station, which he kindly agreed to. Now in a bus to [Manila]. This is my fourth day (of) traveling,” Mark Joseph Calano posted on his Facebook account.

As reports of the diverted flight surfaced, some netizens turned to social media to hit the airport for the longstanding problem of congestion, a recent bullet-planting scheme victimizing passengers and recurring delays in inbound and outbound flights.

Nag fail ang NAIA 1 and the Etihad flight was diverted to Clark Airport. (@ Clark International Airport) https://t.co/rxh4X5CaSm

— Cams V. Alvario (@Decamsffeinated) October 31, 2015

@commondeathave @xxxriainxxx NAIA air traffic congestion also very real. We just had Etihad Air force land on clark yesterday

— Edward Victor Tan (@Edvictan) October 31, 2015

On August 22, at least nine domestic flights were also diverted to Clark due to air traffic congestion. The flights were able to return to NAIA on the same day.