The Air Traffic Management Center (ATMC) of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) has resumed normal operations Sunday afternoon after encountering technical issues that affected flights to and from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), Transportation Secretary Jaime J. Bautista said today, 01 January 2023.
Secretary Bautista said the Department of Transportation (DOTr), together with the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) and the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), are extending all possible assistance to affected passengers.
“At around 9:49AM local time, the Air Traffic Management Center (ATMC) which serves as the facility for controlling and overseeing all inbound and outbound flights and overflights within the Philippine airspace, went down due to power outage, resulting to loss of communication, radio, radar, and internet,” Secretary Bautista said in an online press conference.
Secretary Bautista explained that the system issue caused disruption of flights in NAIA as well as in other airports in the country.
“The primary cause identified was a problem with the power supply and the degraded uninterrupted power supply which had no link to the commercial power and had to be connected to the latter manually. The secondary problem was the power surge due to the power outage which affected the equipment,” he added.
The transport chief further said the ATMC resumed partial operations with limited capacity at 4:00 p.m., and normal operations resumed as of 5:50 p.m., while equipment restoration is still ongoing.
The DOTr and CAAP continue to coordinate with the MIAA and the airlines, as well as other airport operators in the country such as the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA), Clark International Airport, and Davao International Airport to address the situation, according to Sec. Bautista.
He added that the DOTr likewise liaised with the airline partners for the provision of food, refreshments, transportation, lodging, and accommodation for all the cancelled flights which are to be provided by the airlines free of charge to all affected passengers.
Secretary Bautista also said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is very much aware of the situation and has ordered authorities to extend assistance to affected passengers.
