General Santos City airport terminal building. (PNA GenSan file photo)
GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- At least 10 flights between this city and Manila were cancelled on Monday due to the eruption of the Taal volcano in Batangas province on Sunday afternoon.
Edgardo Cueto, manager of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines here, said five inbound flights -- four by the Cebu Pacific and one by the Philippine Airlines -- have been so far scrapped due to the closure of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
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 told PNA in a phone interview.
Cueto said airline and airport personnel had advised passengers to go home and rebook 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 following the partial reopening of NAIA.
“If there will be no major eruption by the (Taal) volcano in the few hours, the flight operations will also return to normal,” he said. (PNA)
Edgardo Cueto, manager of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines here, said five inbound flights -- four by the Cebu Pacific and one by the Philippine Airlines -- have been so far scrapped due to the closure of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
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 told PNA in a phone interview.
Cueto said airline and airport personnel had advised passengers to go home and rebook 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 following the partial reopening of NAIA.
“If there will be no major eruption by the (Taal) volcano in the few hours, the flight operations will also return to normal,” he said. (PNA)
