FLIGHTS SUSPENDED. Except for a few stranded passengers, airport personnel and airline staff, the Laguindingan Airport terminal is devoid of the usual daily activities Wednesday (March 18, 2020) after the municipal government of Laguindingan ordered the suspension of flights. The order does not cover flights for cargo, supply, and those designed as special flights. (PNA photo by Jigger J. Jerusalem)
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) has allowed two "sweeper flights" to ferry stranded passengers from Clark International Airport to Laguindingan Airport in Misamis Oriental and vice versa.
This came after CAAP approved Thursday two Cebu Pacific flights from said two airports.
CAAP advised stranded passengers with international destinations to book immediately online or to their respective travel agencies and ticketing offices to avail of the special flight.
The special flights came after the municipal government of Laguindingan ordered a temporary halt on the airport's operations beginning March 21.
In an executive order dated March 12, 2020, Laguindingan Mayor Diosdado Obsioma said the suspension of passenger flights was related to "the imminent threat of [Covid-19].”
Exempted from the order are cargo, supply, and special flights “to ensure the availability of the supply of food items in the markets and movement of strategic response relative to the present national emergency.”
Damien Rizzelli, 23, a native of France, was with a group of four foreigners who were stranded at the Laguindingan Airport on March 17.
Rizzelli, who was on vacation in Mindanao for three months, said he was supposed to fly out from Davao to Manila but was forced to travel by land to Laguindingan when his flight got canceled.
“We hope to at least fly to Clark. We will just have to wait,” the French backpacker said, adding he is planning on going to Dubai first before flying back to this country.
Lawyer Jeffrey Saclot, Misamis Oriental provincial tourism officer, said they are assisting the Department of Tourism-10 (DOT-10) in providing assistance to the stranded passengers.
In her Facebook post on Wednesday, DOT-10 Director Marie Elaine Unchuan said they have extended the necessary assistance to passengers stranded at Laguindingan Airport.
“We are operating full force at the DOT 10 Office and the Laguindingan Airport and online (for those are working from home) to assist stranded tourists,” Unchuan said.
Job de Jesus, Laguindingan airport manager, said CAAP has implemented the suspension based on Obsioma’s executive order.
In a previous interview, de Jesus said the Laguindingan Airport has an average of 6,000 passengers and 58 flights a day. (PNA)
