NAIA flights resume after maintenance on CAAP power system
MANILA, Philippines (Updated 2:40 p.m.) — Operations at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport resumed on Sunday after a brief suspension for maintenance on the uninterruptible power supply for the country's air traffic management system.
CAAP spokesman Eric Apolino said airport authorities replaced one of its UPS systems from 4:20 a.m. to 5:23 a.m. Operations resumed at 6:09 a.m. and the eight affected flights were able to depart Manila.
"Last night, we issued an advisory to foreign and local airlines that we will conduct maintenance… we issued a NOTAM (notice to airmen) that we will be replacing the UPS," Apolino said in Filipino during an interview with DZBB Super Radyo on Sunday.
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"We had to change it because there was an issue with the broken UPS. That’s why we had to shut down power first and we advised airlines so they could sort out their flight schedules."
Tolentino says more than eight flights affected
Despite CAAP's statement, Sen. Francis Tolentino, who was in one of the flights affected by suspended operations at NAIA, said that their pilot told passengers that the maintenance conducted this morning was unannounced and that no advisory was given to airlines.
"If they were given a notice, then they would not have asked their passengers to board the plane since boarding would lead to consuming fuel," Tolentino said in Filipino on radio dzBB.
He added that there were more than eight flights affected by the UPS maintenance, since the plane he was on was the 11th to get a go signal to take off from the runway after the CAAP reportedly canceled its NOTAM by 6:16 a.m.
While Apolino said in an 8 a.m. interview that only eight flights were affected, CAAP in a 10:24 a.m. advisory said nine flights were affected and held at NAIA's Taxiway Charlie awaiting departure due to the maintenance.
Meanwhile, 38 flights had to wait for clearance delivery.
The UPS maintenance happened over three weeks since the Communications, Navigation and Surveillance Systems for Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) fiasco that left thousands of passengers stranded in NAIA on New Year’s Day.
The UPS of the CNS/ATM failed at around 9:49 a.m. on January 1, where a backup UPS should have kicked in but failed to function.
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With the UPS repair conducted early Sunday, Apolino said NAIA now has two fully-functioning UPS systems.
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