Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 3) — The Philippine Airlines (PAL) on Tuesday said it hopes to eliminate its backlog of flights in a few weeks following the technical glitch that occurred on New Year’s Day.
‘
“We hope to clear the backlog in a few weeks, when you say clearing of the backlog meaning to say makalipad na ang lahat ng apektadong pasahero (all affected passengers will be able to get a flight),” PAL spokesperson Cielo Villaluna told CNN Philippines’ The Source.
‘
Villaluna said Sunday’s technical issue affected 24,000 of their passengers, 16,000 of whom are domestic travelers.
‘
The flag carrier already completed its deployment of recovery flights, about 20 were domestic and around 30 were international, she noted.
‘
This began on Jan. 1 when the runway opened at 5 p.m. until midnight on Monday, she added.
‘
However, this affected PAL’s operations, causing flight delays since Monday, Villaluna said.
‘
Passengers were given different options, either to rebook their flights, refund an unused portion of their ticket, or convert their ticket into a travel voucher, she noted.
‘
She also asked for understanding from passengers who would like to rebook the soonest possible time.
‘
“This is the peak of the peak season, meaning to say this is the time when passengers are flying back to their home base or are flying out for a late celebration of the New Year,” Villaluna said. “So this is happening at the most critical time.”
‘
